Pérez-Llorca’s Employment, Compensation and Benefits area held the first ‘Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update’ session of 2026 in Barcelona, with the participation of Manel Hernàndez, Yolanda Valdeolivas and Marc París, partner, Of Counsel and associate, respectively, of this practice area.
Manel Hernàndez began the seminar by setting out the latest and most significant judicial rulings, the impact of the new Sustainable Mobility Law on the workplace and a review of the most recent case law from the Spanish Supreme Court and the Spanish High Court. In this regard, Hernàndez stressed that “companies are facing a particularly intense start to the year from a regulatory point of view, with major changes that require advance planning and a strategic approach”.
Yolanda Valdeolivas then addressed the main regulatory developments from the beginning of the year. In this context, he highlighted the repeal of Royal Decree-law 16/2025, with the consequent absence of automatic updates to matters such as the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) and contribution bases. However, he pointed out that the government has announced an agreement with business and trade union representatives to increase the minimum wage by 3.1%, to €1,221, an increase that is expected to be approved soon by Royal Decree.
Valdeolivas also detailed the changes announced regarding Social Security, including the increase in the maximum contribution base to €5,101.20, the increase in the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism to 0.90%, as well as the progressive application of the Additional Solidarity Contribution on salaries that exceed this maximum base. “We are facing a scenario of sustained increases in labour costs that are forcing companies to review their remuneration and contribution policies,” said Pérez-Llorca’s Of Counsel.
One of the central points of her speech was the analysis of the Pay Transparency Directive, which must be transposed by 7 June 2026. As Valdeolivas explained, this regulation will strengthen the principle of equal pay for work of equal value and will impose new obligations on companies in terms of pay transparency, both at the pre-employment stage and internally and in terms of workers’ right to information. In this respect, she stressed that “the focus is not so much on the existence of wage differentials, but on whether they can be justified on objective and non-discriminatory grounds”.
Manel Hernàndez went on to discuss the implications of the Sustainable Mobility Law, promoted by the Ministry of Transport, for the workplace. According to him, the regulation introduces the obligation for certain companies to have a Sustainable Mobility Plan, which must be operational as of 5 December 2027 and be negotiated with the workers’ legal representatives. In Hernàndez’s words, “mobility is no longer a purely logistical issue but a business responsibility with a direct impact on work organisation.”.
These plans, which will affect companies with workplaces with more than 200 employees, or 100 employees per shift, must include measures to promote more efficient and sustainable mobility, including active mobility, public transport, shared mobility or the use of vehicles with a lower environmental impact, as well as the possibility of implementing working from home as a tool to reduce travel.
Lastly, following the usual ‘Pérez-Llorca Labour Law Update’ session format, the top three most significant judgments from recent months were presented. This time, first place went to the judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court handed down on 22 December 2025, which establishes that, in dismissals due to supervening incompetence, it is up to the company to prove that it has tried to adapt the job or relocate the worker, or that such adjustments represent an excessive burden. In this context, París pointed out that “the Supreme Court requires companies to make a particularly rigorous evidentiary effort before resorting to contract termination”.
The session concluded with a question and answer session, in which attendees were particularly interested in the practical impact of the Wage Transparency Directive and the challenges that its transposition will pose for organisations in the coming months.