The Supreme Court closes the door on "extra" compensation in cases of unfair dismissal
The Plenary Session of the Social Division of the Supreme Court of 16 July 2025 dismissed the appeal of a worker who requested, in addition to the compensation provided for in Article 56.1 of the Workers' Statute, additional compensation for loss of earnings. He claimed that the legal amount was insufficient and cited Article 10 of ILO Convention 158 and Article 24 of the European Social Charter, which recognise the right to "adequate compensation".
The Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the Catalan Supreme Court and clarified that both Convention 158 and the European Social Charter are "programmatic mandates", i.e. they do not fix an amount and do not allow judges to exceed the amount set by domestic law. The Chamber recalls that the CSE even expressly refers to the laws and collective bargaining to specify the reparation in the event of dismissal, so that only the legislator can modify the system.
It also stresses that the decisions of the European Committee of Social Rights and the recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe have no binding effect on the courts, unlike the judgments of the ECtHR or the CJEU.
With this ruling, the Supreme Court confirms that compensation for unfair dismissal is limited to that provided for in the ET, except for different damages that can be claimed through civil proceedings or a future legislative reform.
