The Spanish Supreme Court ruled that, since the publication of the ruling on 18 November 2024, companies must offer workers the opportunity to defend themselves against the charges brought against them before terminating their employment contract for disciplinary dismissal, directly applying Article 7 of ILO (International Labour Organisation) Convention No. 158 of 1982 (in force in Spain since 1986).
The appeal concerns whether, prior to disciplinary dismissal, the worker must be given a hearing to explain the punishable acts of which he is accused. The Supreme Court modified its previous doctrine and established that, in accordance with article 7 of ILO Convention 158, the prior hearing is a legal requirement in disciplinary dismissals, which guarantees the worker's right of defence. The case concerns a worker dismissed for disciplinary offence, without having been granted a prior hearing, which was declared fair by the Social Court and subsequently declared unfair by the High Court of Justice. The Supreme Court upholds the requirement of a prior hearing, although with an exception for dismissals that occurred prior to that date, since the mandatory requirement of a prior hearing will only apply from 18 November 2024, which means that, from that date onwards, all disciplinary dismissals must include this procedure, otherwise they will be considered unfair.