The Social Chamber of the Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a worker from Almería who filed a dismissal claim two and a half years late. The case involves a cleaning laborer who, after a work accident in December 2018 and exhausting the maximum period of temporary disability, was discharged by his company in June 2020, at which point Social Security recognized his total permanent disability.

However, in November 2022, the National Social Security Institute (INSS) reviewed his file and suspended his permanent disability benefit. It was then, in January 2023, that the worker filed a conciliation ballot and a claim for tacit dismissal. Both the Social Court of Almería and the High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) rejected the claim for having exceeded the legal period of 20 working days.

The High Court, in its sentence 1478/2026 of March 25, upheld the legality of the previous rulings. The Chamber argued that the worker became aware of the tacit termination of his employment relationship in June 2020, and from that moment should have filed the claim for unfair dismissal, regardless of whether it was justified or not. By not doing so within the deadline, he lost his right to claim.

The Supreme Court emphasizes that claims for judicial error only succeed when a judgment is clearly contrary to law, not for mere divergent interpretations. Furthermore, it noted that this route was not appropriate as all possible remedies, such as nullity of proceedings, had not been exhausted.

This decision underscores the importance for workers to act diligently in the face of any company decision implying the termination of their contract, without waiting for future resolutions from the INSS or the company itself. The 20-working-day period to claim dismissal is unalterable, and non-compliance leads to the loss of the right to claim and corresponding compensation.