The Supreme Court has confirmed the sanction of 225,018 euros to an agricultural company for obstructing the work of the Labor and Social Security Inspection (STIS) during a surprise visit of it. Specifically, 22 workers They ran when they realized the presence of the inspectors And the company refused to identify them, the main reason why this fine is imposed.
It was on May 24, 2022 when, as stated in Judgment 2403/2025, the STIS, accompanied by several members of the Civil Guard, carried out an employment control in the company, where 30 workers were collecting strawberries. Seeing the inspectors, 22 of them ran out, abandoning the cars with the collected and the work center without identifying.
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The “Manager handle” of the farm refused to identify the workers who had fled and, even initially denied their flight, although later rectified and said that he did not know the reason why they had run away. In this regard, he assured that everyone had their documentation in order and were discharged in Social Security. However, he did not identify them and did not pay attention to the ITS indications for the possible identification of absent workers, such as calling their mobile phones or identifying them with the help of the employees present in the work center.
The inspectors also asked the person in charge to provide them with the record of days and the list of the daily control of the strawberry boxes collected by the workers, with the intention that he would identify the employees who had fled, but he replied that he did not possess any of the required documentation.
The company only had 17 workers discharged
The sentence also states that the Labor Inspection had a telephone conversation with the company’s advisor, where he said that the businessman had informed him that he had seen the flight of workers through some surveillance cameras of the farm. However, he later denied having these recordings.
The STIS could only identify three of the 22 workers who fled, verifying that these were discharged in Social Security by the company on May 31, 2022, with a real date of May 24, 2022, after the inspection visit. The day of the visit, it was found that the agricultural company had 17 workers discharged, although there were about 30 employees working that day on the farm.
Consequently, on October 27, 2022, the Labor and Social Security Inspection lifted an infringe 23/2015, which organizes the labor inspection system. The Council of Ministers confirmed this sanction on April 11, 2023.
The company claims the sanction
The agricultural company was not satisfied with the sanction imposed by the STIS, which is why they decided to claim it. First, they alleged that more than five months had elapsed between the inspection visit and the notification of the infraction act.
They also said that the workforce was 20 workers (17 of them discharged) and not 30 as the Labor Inspection said, adding that only 12 of these came out and nine were registered in Social Security. They also denied the obstruction to the work of the inspectors, ensuring that both the person in charge and the company’s advisor collaborated with them.
Finally, they alleged a disproportionality of the sanction imposed, subsidiarily requesting that it was imposed to its minimum degree. This would be equivalent to a sanction of 12,001 euros.
The Supreme confirms the fine of the Labor Inspection
The Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the agricultural company and, consequently, confirmed the sanction imposed of 225,018 euros. In their ruling, they reiterated the presumption of certainty of the ATSS acts, based on the impartiality and specialization of the inspector, compatible with the presumption of innocence.
Along these lines, the testimony provided by the company failed to distort the presumption of certainty of the act. In fact, the testimony of a Civil Guard agent coincided with the ITSS act by denying that only 11 people flee and confirming that 20 or 22 empty cars were left.
As for the expiration of the file, they determined that the maximum deadlines did not pass, since the inspection visit was on May 24, 2022 and the infraction certificate was built on October 27, 2022, which does not exceed 9 months or the 5 months of interruption.
Thirdly, on the infraction for obstruction of the inspection work, the High Court recalled the obligation of entrepreneurs and workers to collaborate with the ITSS, including identifying, proving the presence of people and providing information and documentation. In this regard, he confirmed that the company’s behavior was a very serious infraction of obstruction, for refusing to identify 22 people who were working on the farm, of which 19 could not be identified and three were subsequently discharged.
In reference to the degree of gravity that this infraction deserved, the sanction for very serious obstruction can range between 12,001 euros (minimum degree) and 225,018 euros (maximum degree), and the Supreme Court considered that the labor authority justified the maximum sanction of 225,018 euros based on fraud, the damage caused and the number of workers affected. They also took into account the principle that the infraction committed should not be more beneficial than the fulfillment of the law.