Non-dischargeable value of the settlement

In a recent judgment handed down by the Labour Division of the Supreme Court on 15.09.2014, the appeal for unification of doctrine was upheld. 

The Chamber declares that the amounts claimed, which are not disputed, apart from their inclusion in the severance pay, amount to €27,540, €2,601 and €7,650 respectively. 

It is established that we are dealing with amounts and amounts of consideration, which, moreover, correspond to payments that cannot be considered unusual; the first two correspond to frequent remuneration concepts, especially taking into account that we are dealing with a managerial position, and the last one to the notice, a figure that accompanies the termination of the special relationship when it occurs due to loss of full confidence, and which is included as a clause in the contract. 

The application of the theory upheld by the Court leads to the appeal being upheld, since the amount claimed corresponds to part of what was agreed in the sixth clause of the contract and the remainder to remuneration from other years, the enforceability of which has not been effectively contested throughout the proceedings, This means that, apart from the value of the settlement, it cannot be excluded from the scope of concepts that can be claimed, showing an economic entity of sufficient importance to appreciate the disproportion between what has been settled and what is pending, which prevents the recognition of a dischargeable value in respect of the amounts not included despite the signing of the appropriate settlement.

For this and many other rulings, we must bear in mind that the signing of the settlement document does not always imply discharge value for the parties, so it will be necessary to study each specific case to see whether or not the employment relationship has been fully settled. 

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