The labor crisis in Spain is not over. Yes, employment has improved in the last two years, very little, but it has improved, although unemployment is still very high. Something that it has also brought is that the employment generated is very volatile and there is a lot of turnover. That has made many Spaniards experts in many things, and the need to be. An example is knowing how the settlement is calculated.
Although we should not think that companies deceive us, we must take care of ourselves at all times, because there are “mistakes” that favor companies more than us, your employees, and we do not realize, we do not know if the calculations have been correct, and sometimes, we start to give the signature, without being convinced of anything.
Know how to calculate the settlement It will allow you to know all this and avoid mistakes that could harm you, and, above all, get ahead of the company.
We do not say that all companies are evil and evil on earth, but it is always good to know everything that affects our pocket.
If at the end of the article you have any questions, or have discovered errors in the calculation of your settlement, We advise you, first of all, to go to the company to resolve possible errors, and if it is not possible, go to a lawyer specialized in labor matters, your union, or the cooperative where you are registered.
What is the settlement
Settlement comes from a Latin word that means 'finish'.
It is a document that is made when the employment relationship between employee and company ends, and in which it is accepted that the obligations and commitments of both have been covered in a timely manner.
It is a legal document, and it contains all the details of the relationship that have been covered, from general data, paid vacations, and endless details that we will tell you later.
Let's say, in other words, that the settlement is a legal document in which the rights of the person towards the company are balanced, with all that this implies and is pending or not.
The settlement can declare that all the obligations of the company for the employee they have been covered, and that the balance is zero, but also, what has been pending some vacation days, or, on the contrary, that there are two days left without any justification.
Is the calculation and signature of the settlement mandatory?
It is not necessary as it is only a balance of the worker's situation where they express, both parties, that there are no debts, or that there are, detailing what they are and how they will be extinguished.
although for jurisprudence the document is made when an employment relationship ends.
The employee's signature must be present, but with certain conditions. If the employee does not agree, he can sign with the legend "not compliant". That is, it accepts the document, but not the quantities or concepts it contains.
You can also refuse, but that implies not receiving the amount of money contained therein, and in some cases, losing time to process the unemployment benefit, if you are entitled to it.
What does the signing of the settlement entail?
We must not be confused.
Signing the settlement only means that you have received the amount of money stipulated there. It does not necessarily imply, as we have told you before, accepting the quantities and their calculation.
Companies usually put a text in which the signature implies that the worker accepts, and that no claims or clarifications can be made after the date of signing the document. It is a valid, clear legal defense that many use.
What you should do is, We insist, state your disagreement, signing and placing the legend 'I received not compliant'.
If you do not sign, you must go to a trial and other procedures that take time. The procedure and demand would be before the Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation Service (SMAC).
What should the settlement include
Before seeing how the settlement is calculated, you must be able to understand the data that the document contains, and what it must contain, in case there is any that does not appear.
What the settlement should include is the following:
- The general, complete data of the company and the worker who is involved in the employment relationship
- The salary pending payment until the moment the settlement has been issued
- The proportional part of the extraordinary pay (s) to which the worker is entitled
- The proportionate share of benefit pay
- Holidays not enjoyed by the worker. They are 2,5 per month.
- Unpaid benefits, which appear in the contract, such as awards for productivity, punctuality, overtime, etc.
- All debts, for any reason
The compensation amount does not have to appear in the settlement, many times it is added to the dismissal letter, or in detail in an entire document for this section.
Nor is it necessary for the document to contain the word 'settlement' in the title, since the breakdown of the concepts and the concept of debt balance, take for granted what it is.
It is also key to request a draft or advance of the settlement so that you can review the amounts and clarify everything before the final settlement.
How the settlement is calculated
It is not very difficult to calculate the settlement that corresponds to you, with some operations and rules of three you will do it in about 10 minutes maximum.
Go for it.
You will need these data, with their exact amounts:
- Salary of the last period
- Holidays to which you are entitled, but have not enjoyed
- The extra payments
Take the example of a worker who was laid off on September 22. His salary was € 1.000 a month (he is a lucky worker) with a pay of € 100 per trip, and two extra payments of € 1000.
Let's calculate the salary
We will have to calculate the daily wage.
- That is, we add the € 1.000 plus the € 100 of travel and divide them by 30, the days that make up the month, for tax purposes.
- This is: € 1.100 / 30 days: € 36,66 per day.
- If you were fired on September 22, and all your payroll has been paid, then the debt is for 22 days only
- We multiply the € 36,66 by 22 days.
- The debit is €806,52.
Now let's calculate the vacation days.
Let's first calculate the days.
We have that there are 2,5 days per month. Until August, the worker in the example has 20 days. Since he was fired in September, then he has 1,6 days until September 22.
We multiply the 21,6 days by the daily salary, of € 36,66.
On vacation, as he could not enjoy any day, it is € 791.85.
Now we must calculate the extra pay
The extra payments are divided into two periods, which are closed on January 1 and July 1.
As this worker worked until September 22, he is entitled to the extra summer pay, which is € 1.000.
In the second semester, he has worked 82 days.
We multiply the 82 days. As it is per semester, they are € 1.000 between 180 days (half of the year), and multiplied by the 82 days it takes. They are € 453.03.
Now we calculate the settlement.
We add: Salary + Vacations + Extra pay.
In this case: € 806,52 + € 791.85 + € 1.453.03.
The settlement must be € 3.051,4.
If there are more quantities contained in the contract, they should be added to that total quantity.
Rather, let's imagine you enjoyed your 30 calendar days of vacation, and they only corresponded to 21,6 as we have seen. Then, the amount would be subtracted and not added to the total sum, totally changing the amount of the settlement by almost € 600 less.
The same goes for the extra pay: If the worker had received the two extra payments on a prorated monthly basis, there would be no extra pay calculation, only vacation and salary, also changing the amount to very different amounts.
The same if the extra pay instead of being paid semi-annually, is paid annually, the amounts change.
Review all those details, and base them on the contract.
We did not mention you in the I calculate your severance pay, since that normally goes in another document or in your dismissal letter and is not part of the settlement, usually, and is calculated individually to it.
In addition, if there were debts from the worker to the company, for example, payroll advances, purchases of their products, for example, an electrical appliance, they are subtracted from the accumulated total.
Sometimes the result is negative for the worker, and other times, it results in zeros, everything is possible in calculations like this.
Conclusion
The settlement is a balance of the obligations of the company with the worker and vice versa, until the moment the employment relationship ends. They include pending payment accumulated by the contract, which may be in favor of the worker or the company.
Go to a specialist lawyer, and sign according to what you find, without being coerced by the company, and always with the legend 'not compliant' if there is something strange in the settlement.
Calculate your settlement yourselfAs you can see, it is very simple, and above all, fast, on the internet there are many programs and forms that calculate it automatically, if you do not trust your calculations.