December 2025
Gemma Fabregat, Of Counsel at Sagardoy, analyses three recent court rulings addressing significant issues in labour law.
Case 1: Hazard Allowance: Accrual for Calendar Days or Actual Working Days
The judgment under consideration, STS of 22 October 2025, rec. 4762/2023, resolves a recurring issue concerning salary supplements linked to special working conditions: the method of accruing the hazard allowance. The Supreme Court reaffirms its settled case law, establishing that this allowance accrues only for actual working days, unless the collective agreement expressly provides otherwise, overturning the interpretation of the STSJ of the Basque Country 1054/2023 of 25 April, which had opted for accrual based on calendar days.
Case 2: Directive 2000/78, Dismissal and Disability
The Pauni judgment provides decisive clarification at the intersection of long-term temporary incapacity, dismissal, and protection on the grounds of disability under Directive 2000/78/EC. The Court of Justice precisely determines when national legislation establishing a general limit on sickness absence per calendar year may constitute indirect discrimination on grounds of disability, and how such a limit interacts with the employer’s duty to implement reasonable adjustments, which is recognised as a structural condition for the validity of the termination decision.
Case 3: Risk During Pregnancy, Remuneration and Discrimination. STS 741/2025, 18 July. Cassation Appeal for the Unification of Doctrine
STS No. 741/2025, of 18 July, resolves a cassation appeal for the unification of doctrine brought by a specialist gynaecologist against STSJ of Madrid 533/2023, 31 May, which had overturned the ruling of Labour Court No. 35 of Madrid in her favour. The dispute focused on whether the failure to pay for on-call medical duties not performed during periods of contract suspension due to pregnancy-related risk, childbirth, childcare, and accrued breastfeeding leave constitutes sex discrimination.
