Cuatrecasas advises on the negotiation and registration of Culmia’s First Equality Plan.

Cuatrecasas has advised Culmia Desarrollos Inmobiliarios in the negotiation and development of its First Equality Plan, on which it has just received a favorable ruling from the Madrid High Court of Justice, dated June 28, 2023, for its inscription and registration in the REGCON (Registry of Collective Agreements and Equality Plans).

Image: partners Almudena Batista and Alejandro Bonitch.

The advice to Culmia has been led by Almudena Batista, partner of the labor and employment area, with the participation of Jaime Benlloch, associate of labor and employment, and Alejandro Bonitch and Antonio Belda, partner and associate, respectively, of the public area.

The process has been complex due to the lack of legal representation of workers in most of the company’s centers in Spain, and given the non-participation of the most representative unions (CCOO and UGT), which declined to form part of the plan’s negotiating committee. Finally, the negotiation -which concluded with an agreement- was carried out only with the unitary representation of the company’s work center in Barcelona. The application for registration with REGCON was made without the Administration resolving it within the legally established 3 month period (the first request of the Administration being more than 4 months later), so that the positive administrative silence should have operated.

The ruling is particularly relevant given the current negotiation blockage in the equality plan by the unions when the company does not have legal representation of the workers in all or some work centers, which entails a significant damage for the companies that, in addition to not being able to have a registered equality plan, may face the imposition of administrative sanctions, be excluded from contracting with Public Administrations (which is essential for the business of many companies) or from subsidies and bonuses, and may also generate reputational damage, among other disadvantages.

The ruling is pioneering as it is the first decision to rule, at the same time, on both issues: (i) the positive administrative silence and (ii) the declaration of the proper formation of the negotiating committee due to the failure of the unions to reply in due time and form and, consequently, declaring the definitive registration of the equality plan in the REGCON.

L’articolo Cuatrecasas advises on the negotiation and registration of Culmia’s First Equality Plan. proviene da Iberian Lawyer.