In 2026, European regulations It will force all companies to make their salary tables public. That way, it puts itself end to salary secret And all employees can know how much the classmates of the same professional and position charge.
However, in 2021, the employee published on his Facebook profile the salary ranges of his company. Then, the company initiated an investigation that ended with the Disciplinary dismissal of the employee by an alleged revelation of secrets. Now the Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands has declared void the dismissal for considering that those data must be public Because they are generic information, condemning the company to compensate the worker who, at that time, was on paternity permission.
What happened? As explained in the Resolution 623/2024 From the Superior Court of Justice of Palma de Mallorca, in April 2021 an investigation began that would derive in the disciplinary dismissal against an employee he had published The salary tables For new company cabin crew in a Facebook group with 22,000 users.
Although the worker was enjoying his pPaternity ermisowas summoned to a meeting at the company’s headquarters to explain the publication, which he considered an interference in his “legitimate right to permission for paternity without having to address any work activity, including disciplinary.”
In June 2021, while he still enjoyed said parental permissionthe company executed the disciplinary dismissal. To do this Workers Statute Regarding professional discretion, pointing out “a transgression of good contractual faith.”
Partial acceptance in the first instance. In the first instance, the Social Court No. 4 of Palma validated the disciplinary dismissal in 2021. Although in his judgment he recognized that The salary tables They did not constitute a “strategic secret” for the company. However, he considered that there could be a damage to the company since “the salary is factor hiring determinant“
The first sentence, stressed that the employee’s response to other users on social networks “urged to rethink working in the company”, harming the company’s prestige and, as stated in the sentence, justified the disciplinary measures adopted by the company. This decision forced the worker to resort to the Balearic TSJ to challenge the resolution.
Appeal before the Superior Court of Justice. The Balearic TSJ analyzed three key aspects of the case: the nature of the published salary informationthe context of the paternity permit, and possible union reprisals. Regarding the salary tables, the Court said that “no individualized payrolls with personal data were published, but generic information”, discarding violation of the Business Secrets Law on which a good part of the argumentation of the disciplinary dismissal was based.
Regarding Paternity periodthe ruling emphasizes that “dismissal was issued during the enjoyment of a fundamental right, which only generates nullity.” He also considered that the fact that the disciplinary process was done in English due because it was an international company, caused “helplessness” for the employee and detected evidence of reprisals for his candidacy to participate in the Company Committee.
Salary tables are of public interest. The sentence of the Balearic Islands declared the zero dismissal for two main reasons: first, because “the salary tables are of public interest” and second, for not violating the Right to freedom of expression collected in article 20 of the Constitution.
“It is a constitutional right to freedom of expression and information. And even though the brief answer made by the plaintiff indicates a specific figure to contrast, even if it was issued by approximation, no less true is that it accompanied the salary tables in which the members of the social network could contrast the perceptions and the remuneration complements,” the sentence said.
Readmitted and compensated. As a consequence, the Superior Court of Justice of Balearic Islands has condemned the company to readmit to the worker again for having fired “having been issued in the period of enjoyment of paternity.”
In addition, he condemns the company to compensate the employee with 15,000 euros for moral damages and economic damages derived from dismissal.
In Xataka | “Unpresentable” and meaningless: justice declares inadmissible a dismissal for a letter generated with an AI
Image | Unspash (Omid Armin), Wikimedia Commons (Blue)