The conditions of the employment relationship may be changed in terms of duties, geographical location, etc., for justified technical or organisational reasons; to do so employers must comply with the requirements and procedures laid down in labour legislation. 

The following changes may be made:

Change of Duties

A worker may perform duties of a higher or lower category than those for which he was recruited; if they are of a lower category he retains the wage for the job carried out previously; if they are of a higher category the worker must receive the wage corresponding to that category; if the duties of a higher category are carried out for periods in excess of six months in a year or eight months in two years the worker is entitled to ask for promotion.

Geographic Mobility

This occurs when the worker is transferred or moved to another workplace in a different location involving a change of residence, or when there is a move lasting for more than 12 months in a three-year period.

The company must give the worker 30 days' notice of the move and must provide financial compensation for the costs incurred.

The worker is entitled to terminate his contract if he does not consent to the move; he is entitled to receive 20 days' compensation for each year worked (maximum 12 monthly payments).

Substantial Changes to the Contract

These affect the following areas: working hours, timetable, shift system, remuneration systems, system of work and performance, and duties not covered in the first section.

The employee has the right to terminate his contract if the modification causes prejudice, and in such a case he is entitled to receive 20 days' compensation for each year worked (maximum nine monthly payments).

When any of the above types of change in working conditions occur, those concerned are advised to consult their trade union representatives in the company or the trade unions immediately.

Non-Standard Types of Employment

The labour relations of the following groups are covered by special regulations:

• Professional sports people who hold the licence of the corresponding federation and who carry out their professional activity in a sporting organisation.
• Disabled people who carry out their work in special employment centres and who have a recognised invalidity equal to or greater than 33percent .
• Senior management: people who exercise authority particular to legal ownership of the company independently and with full liability. Directors or members of the administrative bodies of companies are excluded.
• Household services: labour relations agreed by the head of a household with a worker who provides paid services which are considered to be domestic tasks.
• Labour relations of artists: labour relations between an employer who organises public events and a worker who carries out paid artistic activity for them.
• Commercial representatives: these work for one or more companies to promote or arrange trade transactions with other companies without assuming the respective risk. They are not considered as such if they carry out the activity in the company's premises and are subject to its hours of work.
• Seafaring: the workplace is the vessel on which services are provided, while recruitment formalities are managed from departments of the Instituto Social de la Marina.
• Dock workers: these are workers recruited by State companies that carry out loading and unloading work in ports. The contract may only be established for an indefinite period.
• Work of convicts in penal institutions: those agreed between inmates and the autonomous body for work and penal services with the purpose of preparing the inmate for future inclusion in the labour market.

Text last edited on: 06/2005

Source: European Union
© European Communities
Reproduction is authorised.