F.O.L. BILINGÜE-UNIT ONE
UNIT 1
2010
LABOUR LAW
SUMMARY 1. - INTRODUCTION TO THE LABOUR LAW 1.1 Justice 1.2 Legal Security 1.3 The Common Good 2. - CLASSIFICATION OF LAW 2.1 Public Law and Private Law 3. - RULES: DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS 3.1 General rules or specialized rules 3.2 Rigid and Elastic Standards 4. - SOURCES OF THE LABOUR LAW: MATERIAL SOURCES AND FORMAL SOURCES 5. - RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE WORKERS 6.-ORGANISMS AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE FIELD OFLABOUR LAW: JUDGES AND LABOUR INSPECTORS
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Mª Isabel Pérez Ortega
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2010
VOCABULARY Labour
laboral
Right
derecho
Law
Derecho
Duty
deber
Work
trabajo
Worker
trabajador
Salary
salario
Job
trabajo
Rest
descanso (to rest= descansar)
Employer
empleador/empresario
Employee
empleado
To gather
recoger
A set of
un conjunto de
To govern
regular
To search
investigar
The net
la Red
Behaviour
comportamiento
To impose
imponer
Coercive manner
comportamiento coercitivo
Force
fuerza
Punishment
castigo
To enforce
obligar
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To commit a crime
cometer un crimen
Justice
justicia
Common Good
Bien Común
Unfair
injusto
Own
propio
Equality
igualdad
Health
salud
Rule
norma
Regulation
reglamento
To command
ordenar
Citizen
ciudadano
To fail
fracasar
To allow
permitir
To approve
aprovar
By means of
por medio de
Collective bargain
Convenio Colectivo
International treaty
Tratado Internacional
Organic Law
Ley Orgánica
Ordinary Lay
Ley Ordinaria
Decree-Law
Decreto-Legislativo
Legislative Decree
Decreto Ley
Collective Agreement
Convenio Colectivo
Custom
costumbre
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2010
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F.O.L. BILINGÜE-UNIT ONE
General Principles of Law
2010
Principio Generales del Derecho
To reach
alcanzar
To Choose
elegir
To select
seleccionar
Chamber
Cámara
To ratify
ratificar
To sanction
sancionar
Supreme rule
norma suprema
Agreement
acuerdo
To sign
firmar
To require
requerir
To claim
reclamar
Tip
propina
Waiter
camarero
Cook
cocinero
Client
cliente
To join
unir
Trade Union
Sindicato
To strike
Ir a la huelga
To assemble
reunirse
Wage
salario
To comply with
quejarse por
Judges and magistrates Jueces y magistrados
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F.O.L. BILINGÜE-UNIT ONE
To deal with
tartar con
Issues
cuestiones
Redundancy
despidos
Complaints
quejas, reclamaciones
Appeals
solicitud
Sentences
sentencias
Decisions
decisiones
Inspection
inspección
Inspector
inspector
2010
1. - INTRODUCTION TO THE LABOUR LAW Let´s talk about rights and Law.
You have rights and you have duties. For example, you have the right to work, the right to be promoted, the right to have a salary for your job. You have the right to have rests and you also have many duties related to your job (Ex. you always have to obey the employers orders). All your labour rights and duties are gathered in the Law.
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The law is a set of rules that governs a society. If you search on the net you´ll find lots of definitions about law. Let’s look at some of them:
- Law is a set of rules that regulate human being behaviours and their relationships. - The Law is a set of rules that a legitimate power imposes in a coercive manner.
These rules are imposed by force, which carries punishments if someone violates them. -Law is a set of systemized and structured rules, enforced in a coercive manner
that governs conduct in the external relations of people and their belongings. Individual right: The right to work Law: A set of rights and duties
The Law is a formal set of rules that are imposed by force. If you commit a crime, you can be punished. Moral and ethical rules are not imposed by force and do not carry a legal punishment, except in the mind of human beings. (Ex. In the case of religion, they believe that there is something after life, a heaven or hell, where they will pay for what they have done). This does not happen with legal norms, where the punishment is immediate and it is legally written.
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The Law is based on three main pillars or columns: 1. 2. 3.
Justice Legal Security The Common Good
1.1 Justice There is not a single way to define "Justice"; what is right for me may be unfair to someone else or vice versa. The term Justice will always be defined by our own values, our own principles and for these reasons we will not be able to provide a single definition of justice.
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1.2 Legal Security Legal Security exists in any country where the law is enforced, without discrimination. That is, when laws are observed and respected. 1.3 The Common Good The Common Good is a set of principles and ethical values that a society should respect: liberty, equality, health, education, etc.
2.-CLASSIFICATION OF LAW We can study various classifications of Law; here we have the following:
2.1. - Public Law and Private Law Private Law: a set of rules governing relationships between individuals, such as civil law, commercial law and labour law.
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Public Law: a set of rules governing the relationship between individuals and the state; for example: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Tax Law, etc.
3.-RULES: DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS Now that you know the meaning of Law and some classifications of it, let´s study the meaning of a rule. In Spanish Law, a rule, a regulation or a specific law are synonymous. A rule has these two characteristics: A) Imperative: rules command or prohibit certain actions. B) Coercive: legal norms are respected because they have force; if the citizens fail to do so they will be punished.
4. - SOURCES OF THE LABOUR LAW In the field of Law, we distinguish “material sources” from “formal sources”. In Law we can also say that the rules emanate from a place: from a specific institution or a group of people. In this case we are talking about the material sources of the law (Who can make law).
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Mª Isabel Pérez Ortega
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2010
We talk about material sources when we think of who is allowed to make the laws. In these cases we ought to mention the following institutions: - European Union - The community/society (also as a formal source because it can approve important laws by means of a referendum; for example the Spanish Constitution or the European Constitution). - International Community - Parliament (Congress of Deputies and the Senate). - Government - The representatives of employees and employers (collective bargaining). - Employer and employee.
What do the Congress and the Government do related to the labour relationship?
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Mª Isabel Pérez Ortega
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Formal sources are the rules. For example, the following: 1- European Community legislation 2- Spanish Constitution 3- International Treaties 4- Organic law 5- Ordinary Law 6- Decree-Law 7- Legislative Decree
8- Decrees and Ministerial Orders 9- Collective Bargain/ Collective Agreement 10-Labour Contract
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11- Custom 12- General Principles of Law
4.1. - European Community Legislation
4.1.1 European Directives The member states of the EU are obliged to reach the results that are stipulated in the Directives. The member states are free to choose the way and the means used to reach those results. The European countries must get some results, but they are free to select the way to do it. The directives are obligatory norms for all the members of the EU.
4.2. - The Spanish Constitution The Spanish Constitution (SC) was approved by the Spanish Legislative Chambers (Cortes Generales) on October 31, 1978. It was ratified by national referendum on December 6th, and sanctioned by the King on the 27th of December. The Constitution contains the basic principles of the political system; it is the supreme rule/law of the legal system.
4.3. - International Treaties An international treaty is an agreement between the Spanish Government and other foreign governments. These international agreements take effect in the moment of their publication in the B.O.E.
4.4. - Organic Laws Organic Laws are a specific type of Law. They are debated and passed in the Congress and the Senate. This means that the Cortes Generales make Law. They are different from Ordinary legislation in two ways: - The Organic Law regulates important subjects: the exercise of fundamental rights and public freedoms, the statutes of Autonomy and the general electoral system. (Article 81.1 SC). - Organic laws require an absolute majority (50% +1 of all members). This means the law must be approved by the half and one of the members of the Chambers.
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4.5. - Ordinary Law They require a simple majority (50% +1 of all members present at the time) of both the Congress and Senate.
4.6. - Decree Law This is a kind of regulation/rule that the Government makes in extraordinary and urgent situations, they are Law. They cannot affect basic institutions of the State: rights and liberties of the citizen as regulated in Title I, the system of the Autonomous Communities or the general electoral law.
4.7. - Legislative Decree A Legislative Decree is a regulation of the Government. They are also treated as law.
4.8. -Decrees and Ministerial orders These are rules of a lower status. The Government makes Decrees and Ministerial Orders.
4.9. -Collective Bargaining/ Collective Agreement The Collective Agreement is an agreement between the legal representatives of the workers, and the legal representatives of the employers.
4.10. -Labour Contracts This is a bilateral agreement between a company and a worker. The worker must do his/her job and the company will have to pay for that job.
4.11. - Uses and Customs They are usually non-written rules. They do not come from the State, but from society.
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Mª Isabel Pérez Ortega
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In Rosaleda´s, waiters and cooks share all the tips that are given by the clients, while in Antonio´s Posada the tips are only shared by the waiters.
Do you think a cook that has been working in Antonio´s and afterwards decides to work in Rosaleda´s may claim to share the tips?
Yes, the cook has the right to share any tips made at Rosaleda´s.
It was
different at Antonio´s where the cooks did not receive tips, but now he is working at a different restaurant with different labour uses. The labour standards are ordered hierarchically: - European Legislation / EU Law - The Spanish Constitution - International Treaties - Law. The different types of law are classified as follows: - Organic Law - Ordinary Law - Royal Decree Law - Legislative Decree - Regulations: Ministerial Orders and Decrees - Collective Agreement - Employment contract - Uses and local customs and professional
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5. - RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF WORKERS http://www.cgt.es/spcgta/estatuto.htm#articulo4 The rights and duties of workers are listed in the Workers' Statute in Article 4: The legislator makes a classification of these rights in two main sections: 1) "Basic workers’ rights:"
The
right
to
work
and
to
choose
a
profession
or
occupation
The employee has the right to freely join or not to join a Trade Union. The right to sign a collective agreement for workers for better working conditions in enterprises. The right to take collective actions to defend the collective interests of the workers The right to strike The right to assemble in the workplace The right to be informed, to consult and to participate in the company 2) "Rights and duties arising from the employment contract:" The right to have an effective occupation The right to be promoted within the company The right to vocational training at work, The right not to be discriminated The right to an adequate health and safety policy. The right to respect worker´s personal privacy. The right to receive wages at the time established in the work contract The right of workers to go to court to defend their rights and interests
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Duties of workers are also included in the Workers' Statute in Article 5. These duties are: The employee must comply with the specific obligations related to his/her job The employee must comply with health and safety measures The employee must comply with the orders and instructions of the employer. The worker should help improve company productivity 6. - BODIES AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE FIELD OF WORK Here we refer to all judges and magistrates. They deal with labour issues and matters related to social security for workers, redundancy, workers benefits, labour penalties, etc. El Juzgado de lo Social: Has the power to hear first, all complaints made within their province. La Sala de lo Social de la Comunidad Autónoma Andaluza: This Court is composed of several judges and they hear appeals on the decisions/sentences of Los Juzgados de lo Social. La Sala Cuarta del Tribunal Supremo. CHECK: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribunales_laborales_de_Espa% C3% B1a
There are other important institutions: - Inspection work - The INEM - The General Treasury of Social Security
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