Employment Contracts: Rights, Duties, and Legal Clauses

Key Contractual Clauses

Contractual clauses: These include clauses of permanence, non-competition, confidentiality, or full-time employment.

Trial Period and Termination

Trial Period: It is a fixed-term period that the employer and employee can agree upon in order to verify if the arrangement is convenient for both parties of the contract. This period must be agreed upon in writing.

End of trial period: During the trial period, either party can terminate the contract without notice, and the worker is not entitled to receive any compensation.

Fixed-Term and Indefinite Contracts

Conditions for fixed-term duration:

• When recruiting for specific work or services.
• When market conditions, a backlog of orders, or excess demand require it.
• When trying to replace workers who have the right to retain their job.

Indefinite contracts: These are contracts that have no end date. If the contract is not made in writing, it is presumed to be held indefinitely. Workers who were not registered for social security are also considered to have an indefinite contract.

Rights and Duties of Working People

The main rights and duties of working people are enshrined in the Constitution and the Workers' Statute.

Employer Powers

Management power: The power conferred on the employer to arrange and organize work.

Disciplinary power: The power conferred on the employer to penalize the employee, according to the law, for having committed offenses provided for by law.

Basic Rights and Workplace Protections

Duties: These are obligations that the law requires of workers.

Basic rights:

• The right to work and the free choice of profession.
• Self-organizing and collective bargaining.
• Adoption of collective action and reunion.
• The right to strike.
• Participation in the company.

Rights in relation to work:

• Effective occupation of the post.
• Promotion and vocational training at work.
• Physical integrity and an adequate safety and hygiene policy.
• Respect for privacy and due regard for dignity.
• Timely receipt of agreed individual wage claims arising from the employment contract.
• Not to be discriminated against on grounds of age, sex, marital status, race, social status, religious and political ideas, membership in a union, or speaking any of the languages of the Spanish state.
• Protection against verbal, physical, or sexual abuse.

Obligations of the Employment Relationship

• Comply with the obligations of the job in good faith and diligence.
• Observe safety and health measures.
• Comply with the orders and instructions of the employer or business.
• Contribute to the improvement of productivity in the enterprise.
• Do not compete with the activity of the company.
• Fulfill all other obligations arising from the employment contract.