Robotization/automation and objective dismissal for technical reasons (Art. 52 c ET)

Abstract

A judgment by a Social Court of Las Palmas has had a significant media impact. Assuming that robotization will entail a strong destruction of employment as a premise, the judgment declared unjustified a dismissal -ex art. 52 c) ET- that had been executed invoking the implementation by the company of a new software that automates the functions of the dismissed employee. The judicial decision opts for a clearly restrictive interpretation, which restricts the lawful of these dismissals to companies in difficulty. This paper, firstly, critically reviews the judgment, stressing that its interpretation does not conform to the letter and spirit of the current norm; and, secondly, various issues are addressed around what, in the author’s opinion, constitutes the appropriate hermeneutic scheme regarding the judicial control of these dismissals for “technical reasons”.