One of the weapons that a company has to “control” its workers and prevent them from generating negative situations, both for colleagues and superiors, clients or the image of the company itself, is to suspend their employment and salary. But, What is the suspension of employment and salary?
If you want to know more about this tool, the cases in which a company can use it and what the consequences are for the worker, we will tell you below.
What is the suspension of employment and salary
We can define the suspension of employment and salary as that situation in which the worker is not going to work for a while and will not receive remuneration in that interval. In other words, working does not work and, therefore, does not charge.
In reality, although when we hear that term we always think of a disciplinary measure for the worker to reconsider, in reality there are many more reasons (even positive) for which it can be applied.
In fact, they are established in article 45 of the Workers' Statute (ET).
What is the objective of the suspension of employment and salary
Sanctioning a worker by taking away his job and salary is not something that is done at the free will of the employer. have to There are a number of reasons why this happens, both positive and negative.
In the positive case, the only objective lies in pausing the employment relationship between the employer and the worker but making the worker keep his job.
In the case of a suspension due to a disciplinary sanction, the maximum objective is to calm the spirits of that worker, so that he reconsiders the way in which he works, both with his colleagues and with his superiors and the company, in order to maintain a relationship again. cordial. If not, it can lead to dismissal directly.
Causes of employment and salary suspension
Based on article 45 of the ET, The causes for which a worker and/or the company can suspend an employment contract are:
a) Mutual agreement of the parties.
b) Those validly consigned in the contract.
c) Temporary disability of workers.
d) Birth, adoption, guardianship for adoption or fostering purposes, in accordance with the Civil Code or the civil laws of the Autonomous Communities that regulate it, provided that its duration is not less than one year, of children under six years of age or minors over six years of age with disabilities or who, due to their personal circumstances and experiences or because they come from abroad, have special difficulties in social and family integration duly accredited by the competent social services.
e) Risk during pregnancy and risk during natural breastfeeding of a child under nine months.
f) Exercise of representative public office.
g) Deprivation of freedom of the worker, as long as there is no conviction.
h) Suspension of employment and salary, for disciplinary reasons.
i) Temporary force majeure.
j) Economic, technical, organizational or production causes.
k) Forced leave of absence.
l) Exercise of the right to strike.
m) Legal closure of the company.
n) Decision of the worker who is forced to leave her job as a result of being a victim of gender violence.
Only if one of these causes is incurred, the employment contract can be suspended for a certain time.
However, there is another reason why it can be used: as a disciplinary measure.
The suspension of employment and salary as a disciplinary measure
It may be the case that a worker does not comply with work obligations, misconduct, cloud the employment relationship with colleagues, confront superiors... In those situations, the entrepreneur can make two decisions:
Directly terminate the employment relationship with the worker, for which he is given advance notice of his dismissal.
Use the suspension of employment and salary as a disciplinary measure, that is, sanctioning him for a time so that he reconsiders and returns to work in the correct way.
How a disciplinary sanction is imposed
The suspension of employment and salary at the disciplinary level must always be imposed by the employer. But for it to be "legal", he has to carry out a series of instructions:
- Graduate the sanction according to the fault. In other words, if the worker has committed a minor offense, he cannot be sanctioned as if it were a very serious one, or the opposite. Of course, it must be taken into account that, after 6 months, all the faults and situations that could have caused this will prescribe.
- When the offense is serious or very serious, the sanction must be communicated in writing. It must reflect the reason for which he is sanctioned, when the events occurred and what happened, when the sanction begins and when it ends. Sometimes, and as long as the company has legal representatives of the workers, they must also be notified. In the case of a minor sanction, the resolution can be verbal, but it is recommended that it also be in writing.
- When the sanction is going to be imposed on a worker representative a disciplinary file must be drawn up, hearing a union representative and notifying the other representatives.
What happens if you are imposed a disciplinary sanction
When a worker receives a sanction that implies the suspension of employment and salary, the immediate consequence is that stop charging from the company, but also stop working for it. Your contract is suspended for the stated period of that suspension.
At the level of Social Security contributions, the worker would not be on sick leave, nor does it mean that they are fired (so they should not be able to sign another employment contract) but rather considers him in a situation assimilated to discharge; that is to say, it quotes for those days, even if the company does not really do it.
All the vacation are another important point to keep in mind as the time that remains in suspension of employment and salary have repercussions on them. That is, you will have the vacations that correspond to you proportionally to the time you have worked, without counting that period. The same can happen with seniority or compensation in case of dismissal.
Once the suspension time has elapsed, the worker can return to work and the contract is reactivated again.