Claiming wage differences and the positive effect of res judicata. Labour

When the worker's salary has already been judged in the previous dismissal process that ended with a final judgement, the positive effect of res judicata prevents the worker from subsequently claiming salary differences.

Judgment to which our labour lawyers have had access, handed down by the Supreme Court in a single doctrine 17-10-13, EDJ 227758.

The Supreme Court bases its position on previous rulings (SC 12-7-06, EDJ 253529):
1.  The debate on the appropriate salary is a matter of controversy appropriate to the dismissal process as it is an essential element of this action and on which the judgement that is handed down must rule. Therefore, the debate on the salary to be paid cannot produce an undue accumulation in the dismissal process (SC 14-10-09, EDJ 300327). Thus, in the dismissal lawsuit it is possible to claim the salary that is considered adequate for the determination of both the relevant compensation and the wages for processing. The current procedural rules expressly provide for the accumulation to the dismissal action of the claim for the settlement of the amounts owed up to that date (ET settlement art.49.2) without this altering the reverse order of the interventions in the dismissal lawsuit (LRJS art.26.3.2º).
2.  The res judicata is even more evident when the differences claimed correspond to the period coinciding with the processing wages.
3.  In accordance with the civil procedural rule of supplementary application: the preclusive effects of res judicata, like those of the litis pendencia, extend both to the previous facts and legal grounds adduced in the previous process and to those that could have been alleged therein (LEC art.400.2 and LRJS final dispos.4ª).

Consult our Law Firm in Madrid for any legal question that may arise.