Today on our blog we commemorate #InternationalWomensDay by echoing a recent ruling that represents a new support for the rights of those women who choose to reduce their working day to dedicate themselves to the care of their children.
In it, Justice establishes that it is discriminatory for the company to offer workers with reduced working hours due to legal guardianship of their minor children an increase in working time outside of their normal working hours, as well as to send them to another work center far from the city where they had been working up to that time. It is a judgment issued by the Social Court No. 3 of Almeria, dated January 30, 2019, in which the company is ordered to reinstate the employees in their jobs and with the same working conditions they enjoyed -including reduced working hours-.as well as to pay each of the affected parties 6,250 euros in compensation for damages.
In this case, the facts date back to October 2018, when the textile company Zara, part of the Inditex group, made the decision to close its store located in the Mediterranean Shopping Center to open a new one in the new Torrecárdenas Shopping Center, in Almería capital.
Out of a staff of about 40 workers, 16 of them had reduced working hours due to the care of minor children.
Thus, after the company’s decision to close the store, this group of workers with reduced working hours was not allowed to transfer their working hours to the new facilities.
The company offered them the possibility of modifying their schedule so that they could work on weekends, which is when a greater influx of people and sales volume was expected – “so workers with a specific profile were needed”, according to the company.
Another possibility offered by the textile company was to send them to a work center located in Roquetas de Mar – 25 kilometers from the capital of Almería – or to another store that was expected to close, offering them a compensated exit.
Since this group did not agree to work on weekends, the company decided to transfer them, which led to the lawsuit, prepared and defended by the trade union CSIF.
A case of inequality
In response, the ruling, for which the judge Aparicio Tobaruela is the rapporteur, considers that the company’s decision is motivated by the fact that there is a reduction in the working day, which would violate Article 14 of the Spanish Constitution (EC).
In addition, the judge understands that it is a retaliation by the company for the workers’ refusal to accept the conditions imposed to work in the new store. Therefore, the ruling considers that the employees have been punished by being transferred to a workplace that is about 25 kilometers away from their homes, which makes it difficult for them to reconcile personal, family and work life.
In addition, it considers that the company decided to move all the stores of the different Zara brands to the new center, in much larger premises, so that in principle, with the change of location, more staff would be needed.
Working hours and wage gap
This ruling, which has become a media case, comes at a key moment in the struggle for equal rights between men and women in all social spheres, including labor.
In this context, the wage gap between men and women in Spain has been reduced by 28 percent since 2002, from 16.9 percent to 12.2 percent in 2014 (latest data available from INE), according to a report prepared by the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and PwC.
The study, entitled ‘Analysis of the Gender Pay Gap in Spain’, was presented last Friday, March 8, at the CEOE headquarters, on the occasion of the celebration of International Women’s Day.
This study also shows a lower rate of participation in the labor market and a higher percentage of temporary and part-time contracts, including more requests for reduced working hours, for women compared to men.
The result is that women work around 29 percent fewer hours per year than men. If you need legal assistance in any case related to discrimination or family law, please contact us .
