Employment Termination Procedures and Legal Rights

Termination of Service

Mutual Agreement and Contract Compliance

• Mutual agreement: No compensation, no unemployment benefits, final balance payment.
• Compliance with contract conditions: Expressly set out in the contract; no compensation, eligibility for unemployment, final balance payment.
• Compliance with contract term: Entitlement to compensation, unemployment benefits, and final balance payment.

Termination by the Will of the Worker

• Abandonment (without notice): No compensation, no unemployment benefits, final settlement (quitclaim).
• Resignation (with 15-day notice): No compensation, no unemployment benefits, final settlement.
• Employer Failures: Entitlement to compensation, unemployment benefits, and final settlement.

Termination for External Reasons

• Death or retirement of the employer: Entitlement to compensation, unemployment benefits, and final settlement.
• Loss of corporate legal personality: Entitlement to compensation, unemployment benefits, and final balance payment.

Termination by the Will of the Employer

Disciplinary Dismissal

This is based on breaches by the worker, which allow the employer to break an employment relationship without generating worker compensation. Lawful causes include:

• Repeated and unjustified failures regarding attendance or punctuality at work.
• Indiscipline or disobedience.
• Verbal or physical offenses to employers, colleagues, or relatives living with them.
• The violation of contractual good faith.
• A steady and voluntary decline in agreed or standard work performance.
• Habitual drunkenness or addiction if they negatively affect work performance.
• Harassment based on origin or sexual harassment toward the employer or colleagues.

Requirements for Dismissal

• Notification: The dismissal must be notified to the employee in writing, stating the specific facts that motivate it and the effective date.
• Grounds: The breaches of the employee must be serious and attributable to their own responsibility.

Court Ratings for Disciplinary Dismissal

• Fair Dismissal: The court finds there was a real and justified cause for dismissal.
• Unfair Dismissal: The court determines the gravity of the breach is insufficient. The company must choose between reinstating the worker or compensating them with 45 days' salary per year of service, with a maximum of 42 monthly payments.
• Void Dismissal: The real cause of dismissal is discrimination prohibited by law or a violation of the worker's fundamental rights and civil liberties.