The terminations due to the expiration of the agreed period or the completion of the work or service are excluded from the calculation of the collective dismissal threshold (STS ruling of 29/09/2021).

Under our regulations, when calculating the number of contract terminations required to initiate a collective dismissal procedure, only those initiated by the employer within the reference period (90 days) for reasons unrelated to the worker’s personal circumstances will be considered. This excludes terminations due to the expiration of the agreed term or the completion of the work or service stipulated in the contract, unless it is proven that the work has not been completed. The conversion of fraudulent temporary contracts into permanent contracts, in order for their termination to be included in the collective dismissal, must be addressed as a preliminary issue, upon which the existence of the collective dismissal depends.

The debate regarding the fraudulent nature of a temporary contract is unrelated to the collective dismissal process and pertains to the individual or collective challenge of the dismissals. In its ruling of 29/09/2021, the Supreme Court rejects the inclusion of the validity of specific work or service contracts that have been terminated as part of the substance of the collective dismissal process. Such fraudulent character should have been declared beforehand.