The Government plans to approve this Tuesday, at the proposal of the Ministry of Labor of Yolanda Díaz, a draft law aimed at strengthening the protection of workers who report cases of corruption or practices contrary to legality.
Among the main measures is the declaration of nullity of dismissals affecting those who communicate such behaviors, as well as certain relatives or people in their environment.
According to sources from the department led by Yolanda Díaz, the future regulation will recognize as the right of workers the reporting of irregular actions, with the aim of preventing any type of retaliation in the workplace.
Protection against dismissals and other reprisals
The draft law contemplates that employees will be protected not only against dismissal but also against other measures that may constitute retaliation, such as changes in job position or modifications of their working conditions.
The planned measures will apply regardless of the contractual situation of the worker, including those who are in a probationary period. Likewise, the protection will extend to reports made both to the competent authorities and through media outlets.
From the Ministry of Labor, they maintain that the objective is to offer guarantees to those who report allegedly irregular facts without fear of labor consequences arising from that action.
The regulation must pass its parliamentary processing
After its approval as a draft in the Council of Ministers, the initiative must begin its legislative processing and be debated in the Cortes Generales, where the Government will need to gather sufficient support for its final approval.
Sources from the Ministry believe that the proposal could have broad parliamentary and social support, as it is a measure aimed at strengthening the protection of those who collaborate in detecting corrupt practices.
The case of Ana Garrido, among the precedents
The Ministry frames the future law in the need to avoid situations like that experienced by Ana Garrido, former councilor and municipal technician of Boadilla del Monte, whose report of irregularities linked to the Gürtel case resulted, as recognized by the courts, in a situation of workplace harassment.
In 2017, the Supreme Court confirmed the ruling of the High Court of Justice of Madrid that declared the reprisals suffered by Garrido as proven and condemned the City Council of Boadilla del Monte to compensate her with 96,314.15 euros.
With this initiative, the Executive intends to establish a specific legal framework that strengthens the protection of whistleblowers of corruption and prevents them from suffering labor consequences for reporting allegedly unlawful conduct.