We can understand labour conciliation as the term that refers to the solution agreed by the company and the worker, affected by some procedure. This process is usually carried out when there is a disagreement or conflict between both parties, and for this purpose, a record is presented in which all the agreements reached by the individuals and entities involved in the process are brought together and compiled.
The labour conciliation minutes do not always have to contain a specific solution, as it is possible to add that no agreement has been reached. The primary objective of this type of process is to avoid legal disputes by means of agreements between the parties involved. With this in mind, we will proceed to explain what labour conciliation consists of, its proceedings, those involved in its realisation and what its purpose is.
What does the conciliation procedure consist of?
In order for the labour conciliation to be effectively established, both the employer and the employee must be present during the process so that the relevant agreements can be reached, subject to the different individual and independent conditions of each company. Remember that there is a great variety of situations and not all of them behave according to the same standards or patterns.
No lawyers or intermediaries, trade unions or social workers need to be present during the minutes. However, you can always rely on these professional services to add an extra dimension to the labour conciliation act.
It is of particular relevance that the following elements are present during the completion of such an act:
- Administrator.
- Registry of the agreement.
- Employer.
- Employee or client.
- Employee’s representative in case of justified absence.
Depending on the case, whether it is a dismissal, a sanction, a problem derived from a bad job or a bad offer from the company, etc., both parties (worker and company) must agree on a meeting and organise the negotiations that are necessary and most convenient at the time for both.
All of this will be summarised and explained in the minutes of conciliation that we have explained above, in which the key points of the negotiation will be recorded. It will also be stated whether a final agreement has been reached, or if it has not been possible.
What information is included in the conciliation report?
Normally, the labour conciliation minutes consist of several parts, regardless of whether the result is an agreement or not. The key information that is usually collected is as follows:
- The worker ratifying the record.
- The company.
- Parties representing the conciliation act (administrators, registrars, employee, company…).
- Terms and conditions of the respective agreement.
- Whether the offer is accepted or not. If accepted, the terms and conditions of the offer must be included.
- Finally, the labour conciliation act will be signed to be able to carry out the relevant procedures.
What should be added to the proposal in the first instance?
In addition, the conciliation act itself must be completed with a series of prior and basic data that are necessary for practically all legal processes nowadays. These would be the employment and business information of both parties; brief explanation of the employment relationship; statement of the facts that lead both parties to this situation; detailing whether the worker will attend the negotiation meeting alone or not.
Once all these sections are completed, four copies of these data and the respective situation will be sent to:
- The registry.
- The SMAC.
- A copy to the company.
- One copy for the worker.
The SMAC is the conciliation, arbitration and mediation service, offered in all the communities of Spain, whose objective is to prevent a problem between a company and an employee from escalating or entering judicial proceedings. To this end, the aim is to reach a resolution of these conflicts that is to the satisfaction of both parties.
The labour conciliation act is a voluntary process that is established with the aim of reaching agreements before taking the problem to court. The aim of this is that both parties to the agreement are satisfied and thus avoid the corresponding present and future costs that a legal process could entail. In this way, the interests of both parties are prioritised without an external mediator passing judgement.
In what ways can the conciliation procedure end?
Nowadays, the labour conciliation process can end in different ways, but in all of them the guidelines will always be followed, regardless of the outcome of the conciliation.
- No agreement: In this situation, no agreement has been reached between the parties involved in the labour conciliation. If the worker wishes to pursue this remedy, he/she would have to turn to external channels, such as the courts or a lawsuit before the Social Court.
- Attempted and without effect: This is a very specific case and does not usually happen, but it occurs when it is the company that does not attend the act of conciliation. Therefore, the notification mechanisms are activated.
- Withdrawal: In this situation, it is the worker who attends the conciliation, but for various reasons, ends up abandoning the process voluntarily.
- With agreement: In this situation, both parties reach an agreement, and this is made known in the minutes, resulting in a satisfactory agreement for both the company and the worker or client.
- No-show: In this case, instead of the company not attending the summons, it is the employee who does not show up, nor does he/she send his/her own representative to the proceedings.
We hope that, thanks to our work and the information in the article, you will be able to understand a little more about conciliation, such as who it is aimed at and for which situations it can be requested. What it offers us and how it currently works.
