Insolvency

In the insolvency of a company , a discussion arose on how to classify certain amounts that the company owed to several employees owed to several workers , the money corresponding to unused holidays. The FOGASA challenged the list of creditors so that those amounts would be recognized as general privileged claims (that is, with preference of payment over other ordinary claims). However, in the first instance, the court did not rule in its favor on that point, only accepting as privileged another compensatory item from one of the workers, and rejected that the untaken holidays had that "better" classification, because it understood that they were not salary , but something different.

The Provincial Court (AP) confirmed that criterion . According to the AP, that compensation had a rather compensatory (as if it were a repair), and also did not fit clearly into the cases that bankruptcy legislation expressly mentions as privileged. So the matter reached the Supreme Court (TS), and the key issue was very specific, is that money for unused vacation days considered salary or compensation? Because the classification in the bankruptcy proceedings depends on that answer.

The TS explains that, in labor law, the salary includes both what is and what is paid for rest periods rest periods that the system considers "as if it were work." And remember that the right to paid vacation cannot normally be exchanged for money, except in one exception , when the contract ends way to "pay" a vacation that can no longer be enjoyed on time.

In addition, the SC supports this idea in the European case law , which considers that the right to vacation and the right to receive payment during those vacations are two sides of the same right , and that the compensation should leave the worker in a situation equivalent to what they would have had if they had rested while getting paid . It also recalls its previous doctrine, even though sometimes it is referred to as "compensatory compensation" and even if it is paid in the settlement, the real nature remains wage-related.

Based on this, the conclusion is clear, if that compensation is considered salary and the credit predates the insolvency proceedings , it must be recognized as a claim with general privilege in accordance with art. 280.1 of the Insolvency Act, with the corresponding legal limit.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, our professionals can advise you in defending your rights