It is possible to accumulate hourly credit as a union delegate and as a member of the collective agreement guarantee commission

2023-11-24 12:16:01

In STS no. 723/2023, of October 5, 2023, ECLI:ES:TS:2023:4314, the TS analyzes whether it is possible for the same worker (personnel delegate) to accumulate the hourly credit established by art. . 10.3 of the LOLS and art. 68.e) of the ET (35 hours) and the hourly credit (40 hours) that its collective agreement recognizes to the members of the so-called “guarantee commission” [organismo creado por la propia norma colectiva para interpretar, vigilar y fiscalizar el cumplimiento del convenio] of which it is also a part.

Specifically, art. 10.3 of the Organic Law on Freedom of Association (LOLS) grants union delegates the right to hourly credit of 35 hours, while the applicable collective agreement recognizes members of the guarantee commission an hourly credit of 40 hours.

The collective agreement guarantee commission is a joint body of mixed composition, made up of both worker representatives and business representatives, appointed by the unions that signed the collective agreement. It is not a works council, so the TS has determined that the requirements to deny the accumulation of hours to perform its functions are not met.

The court has been forceful in clarifying that the representation of the guarantee commission cannot be assimilated to an inter-center committee, since the latter is a body formed exclusively by representatives of the workers and, in addition, the members of the inter-center committee. They are appointed among the components of the different center committees, while the members of the guarantee commission are appointed by the unions that signed the agreement.

Likewise, the TS has highlighted that the status of legal representation of the workers granted to the guarantee commission does not convert it into a works committee, since the joint body is a body in charge of interpreting, monitoring and supervising compliance with the collective agreement.

In summary, the judicial body rejects the appeal filed by the company and understands the possibility of accumulating the hourly credit as a union delegate and as a member of the guarantee commission of the collective agreement.

Hourly credit of worker representatives.

QUESTION

Could the hourly credit be accumulated as a member of the works council or personnel delegate and that corresponding to his status as a union delegate?

The applicable regulations prevent the same person, who is a member of the works council or personnel delegate and also a union delegate, from being able to accumulate or add two hourly credits. This issue would be a different case from that analyzed by STS No. 723/2023, of October 5, 2023. In accordance with arts. 10.3 LOLS and 68.e) of the ET and while they hold this double quality, the hourly credit as a member of the works committee or personnel delegate and that corresponding to their status as union delegate cannot be accumulated in the same person, which happens in The assumption analyzed in the news is that the union delegate is not a member of any company committee nor is he a personnel delegate.

The exclusion of the guarantee of the hourly credit of art. 68.e) of the ET occurs only when the union delegate is part of the works committee or is a personnel delegate (art. 10.3 of the LOLS). But the case of the so-called “collective agreement guarantee commission” is different, which, as the TS specifies, is not a works committee.