Spanish court orders reinstatement and compensation for mother dismissed over night-shift request

The High Court of Justice of Navarre in Spain has declared the dismissal of a female worker null and void after she requested to work exclusively night shifts to care for her child. The court ruled that the company failed to provide objective or reasonable justifications for the termination and could not prove the decision was unrelated to her request for a schedule modification.

The employee, a seasonal worker who had been with the company since September 2022, had previously been granted a six-month period of night shifts by the human resources department. However, she was notified via WhatsApp that she would be required to return to a rotating shift schedule. When she insisted on maintaining the night shift to manage her childcare responsibilities, she was dismissed.

In addition to being reinstated and receiving unpaid wages, the company has been ordered to pay €30,000 in compensation for moral damages and the emotional impact of the discriminatory decision. The employer had originally cited organizational and productivity reasons for the dismissal, but the court found no prior record of poor performance to support these claims.