Ronnyone

Unfortunately many bosses do feel they are above the law. Many have enchufe with others higher up the chain and unless you feel up for a fight and willing to employ a lawyer- it might be better to just swallow things or move on. I do understand your frustration though.

agree_to_disagree

I don't think the OP has to employ a lawyer and take it to the Spanish high court.

What the OP does need to know is if he is obliged to work these national/local holidays or not....

However, what does sound like management claptap is that normal employee rights are overridden in tourist areas. Complete b****ocks, in my opinion!

DLC

What's your convenio, does it say on the contract? Maybe it's dependente tienda? Once you know what convenio you've got, the next thing is to find the one which applies to where you work. Perhaps there is one for your town, province (island?), or Canarias instead of nationally.

Once you've found that out, download a copy (should be available online from one of the union websites) and start reading... search for key words like vacaciones or festivos and see what it says.

monjue

Yes I do have the convenio, i'm currently trying to decode it as we speak. Thank you.

SanDiegogirl

Wonder what type of retail store this is? It it is one selling tourist items, clothing, jewellery, etc it might very well stay open for National holidays as, in tourist areas, this is when the money is made.
Employing someone for 18 hours a week suggests that the person is employed for those most busy times of the week? which might definitely cover holiday days.

dmu

Have to agree. The OP says in # 8 that his contract stipulates specific working days and hours, from which it should be an easy matter to know in advance whether he'll have to work on a public holiday.
Is Spain like France, where public holidays are held on the actual dates, i.e. any day of the week, even Sundays? The latter, for the average French employee, is a source of irritation, as they've lost a day's holiday.
@monjue Working in the tourist (hospitality/retail) industry, and also in hospitals, police, transport, etc....., you have to be flexible and bite the bullet, otherwise the boss might use any confrontation as an excuse to look for a replacement.... As an anecdote, I, as a freelance, often had to do urgent work during feast days, despite having a family. If I had refused the work, I would have lost a client.....
Is there a particular reason why you're against working on public holidays?

Fredbargate

Same here Self employed, small business with clients that worked 24/7 relying on equipment I serviced.
However most treated me fairly and would only call me out as a last resort.

monjue

Thanks for your reply.

It's not that I'm against public holidays. but the thread seems to be heading a little off topic. My question was, are national public holidays not applicable in "tourist zones". I'm looking for a clear answer. If its law, then it should be a yes or a no. The consequences of what my boss does or thinks in response to my actions are not a worry to me. Like I've mentioned before, they are not above the law. Sure I could lose my job for exercising my rights, but it will be him who ends up in a worse situation in the end.

Ronnyone

I agree that if you can identify your particular convenio then you should be able to find the general terms that are applied to that. I am a teacher but unfortunately the various convenios ( identified by codes) are various and again difficult to sometimes discern.

Moses2013

If you have to work on national public holidays there should be additional pay. Are you getting more money on these days? Otherwise I don't see a problem here and a business is a business.

EuroTrash

I don't know the answer but I am just wondering why you are so sure that it is as simple as that.
France is very big on employee protection and all that, but job contracts are sector-specific and even grade-specific. There are very few jobs that aren't covered by a union agreement. Union agreements apply to every employee in that job/at that grade, it is not optional. And in many jobs in the tourist sector, the convention will say that employees can be required to work public holidays.

How could it be otherwise, really - if no employees could be asked to work on a public holiday, the tourist industry would be shut down just when tourists most need it to be open.

In France the convention that applies to that job, specifies whether the employee is entitled to time in lieu, or extra pay, or whatever.

What I'm saying is, if Spain does things in a similar way it may be a combination of working in a tourist zone / working in a specific job role or sector, not just one law fits all.

monjue

Thats my point, there is no additional pay, or days given in lieu.

monjue

Public holidays are usually for one day, due to a religious ceremony or similar. The whole islands banks, post offices, supermarkets etc are closed. It does not effect the tourist industry at all.

SanDiegogirl

On the public holiday day, when everything is shut down as you say above from banks to supermarkets and your shop is open do you have customers?
It would seem unreasonable (not to say illogical) for your boss to be paying you when there are no customers. As you are paid for a specific number of days/hours, one would have thought your boss would want you there when you have customers to serve.

What do you do in the shop during these holiday days....?

I don't think National Holiday days are actually specified by law.... plenty of businesses do not take all the national business days and are flexible based on their businesses.

monjue

I appreciate your reply, however it’s almost all off topic. Please read the first post. Thank you.