""The Court upholds the demand of several unions by considering that bonuses for night work and weekend work, when received regularly, form part of ordinary remuneration and must be integrated into vacation pay in accordance with the doctrine of the CJEU and the Supreme Court."

The Social Chamber of the National Court resolves the appeal filed in collective dispute procedure No. 1340/2025, promoted by the union representatives of two unions in the railway sector. The conflict affects 3,000 workers of the defendant company.

What is being debated is whether they have the right to have supplements for night work and work performed on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays included in their salary during the vacation period. The central question is to determine whether these bonuses, as they are regularly received by the workforce due to the organization of rotating shifts, should form part of the worker's ordinary remuneration and, therefore, be computed in the salary corresponding to paid vacations.

It was not disputed that:

• The affected workers provide rotating services from Monday to Sunday, with regular night shift and weekend/holiday assignments.
• This work regime affects all customer service personnel (SAC), station service (SET), maneuver operators, specialists, among others.

The Court, applying the doctrine of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and of Supreme Court, articulates its interpretation in the consolidated doctrine on vacation pay, highlighting:

1. The purpose of paid rest (art. 7.1 Directive 2003/88/EC) requires that during the vacation the worker does not suffer an economic loss with respect to his or her ordinary remuneration.
2. According to the CJEU (Williams case C-155/10) and the jurisprudence of the Spanish Supreme Court (SSTS 223/2018, 532/2018 and 27/2021):

• Occasional add-ons should be excluded or sporadic.
• Those complements that the worker regularly receives must be included., although they are variable in nature.
• The dividing line between regularity and occasionality can be set as having accrued the supplement in at least 6 of the 11 months prior to vacation enjoyment. in the absence of express regulation in the agreement.

The National Court fully considers the claim and concludes that when a salary supplement accrues with some regularity,at least during six of the eleven months prior to enjoying the vacation, should be considered habitual and not occasional, which requires it to be included in the vacation compensation. In addition, it should be noted that the company did not deny that the workers regularly worked shifts with night work and work on weekends and holidays.