Severance pay for fixed-term and permanent contracts

The question whether discrimination constitutes a higher severance pay for permanent employees than for fixed-term employees has been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union by the Spanish Supreme Court.

The European Court of Justice came to the conclusion that a higher severance pay to workers with permanent contract does not constitute discrimination. He justified it solely by the fact that permanent employees don’t expect any termination of their employment contract, while fixed-term employees on the contrary do.