It is not necessary to specify the worker’s individualized salary in the basic copy of the contract if its content is identical to the original contract.

The judgment of October 18, 2019, by the National Court resolves a collective dispute raised by the FICA-UGT union, arguing that the data provided by the company in the basic copies of the contracts were insufficient and did not comply with the requirements of the Workers’ Statute. Specifically, the union requested that it be declared the right to have the basic copies of the contracts delivered by the company to the worker representatives include the actual agreed salary.

The company opposes the request, arguing that it provides basic copies containing information on salaries by categories and departments, without the need to specify the individualized salary of the worker. The content of the basic copies is identical to that of the original contract. The company claims that it transcribes the contract’s original content literally, thus complying with current legal requirements, and that the applicable collective agreement does not extend the rights established by law in this area.

In the decision, the National Court declares that the employer must provide a copy of the employment contract to the trade unions but is not obliged to supply data that does not appear in the original document. Furthermore, if the original contract stated that the salary is according to the collective agreement, and subsequently, the numerical amount was specified in the copy, it would not comply with the regulation established in Article 8.4 of the Workers’ Statute. The Workers’ Statute exempts the employer from delivering the basic copy for certain contracts (such as senior management contracts) and from disclosing certain personal data but does not extend the obligation to provide data to the works council that does not appear in the original contract.

The National Court dismisses the social party’s claim, ruling that data not reflected in the original contracts cannot be included in the basic copies of the contracts, and the legal mandate does not extend the employer’s obligation to provide the worker representatives with data not included in the original contract.