Employment tribunals favour employees in 95% of dismissal disputes

ACCORDING to the annual report from the General Council of the Judiciary, during 2018, 95% of claims filed by workers against their employers that reach employment tribunals in Alicante province were resolved in their favour of the employees.

Alicante’s employment tribunals ruled on 3,899 cases, of which 893 were fully resolved in favour of the employee, another 337 cases were ruled partially in favour of the employees concerning compensation. Only 215 cases ruled in favour of the employer. 745 of the claims were dismissed when they reached court.

The remaining claims (1,143) were settled out of court by mutual agreement between employees and employer. This option avoids court but usually ends in slightly reduced compensation for the employee, but avoids the expense and long wait for the court case to come up. This is precisely the main reason that employees accept a settlement. In Elche, for example, it takes an average 18 months for a claim to reach court.

The main reasons for workers taking their bosses to court for being made redundant or sacked, is due to them being paid less compensation then they are entitled to by law.

Average compensation paid for employees being made redundant amounted to €10,500. However, those who went to court obtained a better pay off, averaging €12,768.

Those who settled outside court were paid around €7,845, mainly because the majority of settlements were for minor claims and the more serious claims went all the way to the judge.

Lawyers recommend that employees go all the way, if their claim is relevant and they have the right to the compensation they are demanding.