The Spanish Court has once again placed clear limits on companies when profound changes to working conditions are at stake, especially when these changes affect the professional dignity and wages of workers. A recent ruling by the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid involves El Corte Inglés and an employee who has been with the company for more than two decades, in a case that reignites the debate about professional degradation and labor rights.
The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid ruled in favor of a worker at El Corte Inglés who was subject to a radical change in her duties as part of an internal reorganization process. For the judges, the measure applied was disproportionate, unjustified and unnecessary.
The court decision recognized the worker’s right to compensation of 110,793.60 euros, the maximum amount foreseen for a dismissal considered unfounded, equating the situation to the termination of the contract at the initiative of the employer, according to the Spanish digital newspaper Noticias Trabajo.
More than two decades serving the company
The worker began working in May 1997, accumulating 26 years of service. I held the position of Head of Audiovisual Production in the “La Tienda en Casa” area, integrated into Mando’s professional group. It was a management position, with a team under his responsibility and a gross annual remuneration of 56,164.80 euros, compatible with the role and the experience accumulated over the years.
The situation changed on May 12, 2023, when the company announced a substantial change in working conditions. The employee was removed from the Manager category and integrated into the Professionals group, the lowest at the store operating level. In practice, she no longer carried out coordination duties and began working as a clothing saleswoman in a group shopping center, with no connection to her training or professional career developed over more than two decades.
Pay cut of more than 65%
The change had a direct and significant impact on salary. Gross annual remuneration fell from 56,164.80 euros to 19,740.96 euros, which represents a reduction of more than 65%. Furthermore, the company withdrew personal salary supplements worth 27,158.40 euros per year, further aggravating the worker’s loss of income, without concrete economic reasons being invoked, according to the source previously cited.
More unstable schedules and loss of teleworking
The working hours were also profoundly changed by El Corte Inglés. The employee no longer has a fixed schedule in the morning, from Monday to Friday, with the possibility of teleworking. Alternatively, she began to be subject to rotating shifts from Monday to Sunday, including mornings, afternoons and nights, which had a direct impact on her personal and family organization.
Faced with the accumulation of changes, the worker resorted to article 50 of the Spanish Workers’ Statute, which allows the termination of the contract at the worker’s initiative when there are serious changes that affect their professional dignity. This legal mechanism guarantees the right to compensation when there is a serious impairment of working conditions, equating the situation to unfair dismissal.
High court’s understanding
Although the Juzgado do Social nº 13 of Madrid initially refused the request, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid ruled in favor of the worker on appeal.
The judges recognized that the company could have organizational grounds to redistribute workers from central services to stores, but considered that the solution applied did not overcome the so-called “judgment of reasonableness”.
Professional degradation and loss of dignity
The ruling highlights that El Corte Inglés did not demonstrate that the only alternative was to place a top manager in such a lower category. For the court, the transition from a management position to a store salesperson constitutes a clear professional degradation, according to the same source. According to the judges, this change negatively affected the worker’s dignity, harmed her training and compromised her legitimate expectations of career progression.
The ruling recalls that article 41 of the Workers’ Statute allows changes to working conditions, but does not give companies absolute power to impose aggressive changes without individual justification. The court also highlighted that the withdrawal of salary supplements was not supported by economic reasons, as the company only invoked organizational reasons.
Maximum compensation applied to the case
According to , given all these elements, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid declared the termination of the contract as if it were an unfounded dismissal. The compensation of 110,793.60 euros results from the applicable legal calculation, with 45 days’ salary per year of service until 2012 and 33 days from that date, with the maximum limit of 720 days’ salary being applied due to the worker’s high seniority and original salary.
What if it happened in Portugal?
In Portugal, a salary cut of this size would initially clash with the principle of irreducibility of remuneration. The law prevents the employer from reducing wages, except for very specific exceptions provided for in the Labor Code or collective regulation instruments. Also regarding functions, the rule is that the worker performs the activity for which he was hired, with only the assignment of tasks compatible with his skills and qualifications being permissible, which may make a possible “demotion” legally contestable.
Although companies can reorganize teams or adjust schedules, when these changes imply a significant loss of professional status, functional content or living conditions, such as salary and hours, the risk of the decision being considered abusive or even illegal under Portuguese labor legislation substantially increases.
In such a scenario, the worker may consider terminating the contract with just cause, as long as there are legal grounds and sufficient proof. If this just cause is recognized, the law provides for the right to compensation, which can vary between 15 and 45 days of basic salary and seniority benefits for each year of seniority, without prejudice to possible claims for other damages. At the same time, ACT is often resorted to and, in the absence of voluntary reinstatement of conditions, progress to the courts.
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