The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Navarra (TSJN) has granted an employee the right to work all her hours from home to ensure that her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, is cared for. The Sala de lo Social overturned a first-instance ruling dismissing the claim by the social court in Pamplona The ruling may be reviewed on appeal to unify case law before the Tribunal Supremo .
The claimant has worked as a software engineer since 2006. In May 2025, she requested to work remotely 100% of the time because her mother, who has a 65% degree of disability, requires continuous care. Her employer refused, citing the fact that she did not live in the same household as her mother. According to the grounds of the judgment, this is not decisive for the claim where the need for care is substantiated and the work can in principle be performed remotely.
In its reasoning, the TSJN refers to Artículo 34.8 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores, which provides for adjustments to working conditions to reconcile work and care, and requires employers to give substantiated reasons for refusing a request. The court found that the company’s workforce had already been working entirely remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic. It was only from May 2025 that the company again required employees to be on site at least two days a week – allegedly because of requirements set by its main client Gobierno de Navarra. The judges said that this blanket requirement was not enough to reject the employee’s request without setting out specific operational needs in the individual case.
The ruling forms part of Spain’s growing body of employment case law strengthening the legal right to adjustments – including full-time remote working – for family members providing care. It clarifies that not sharing a home is not grounds for exclusion, provided the need for care and the feasibility of the work are substantiated. At the same time, it remains unclear in what circumstances employers can demonstrate overriding organisational reasons or client interests sufficient to justify a full-time on-site requirement.
Reports do not give a definitive ruling on the requested compensation for non-material damage. What is clear is that, pending any possible ruling by the Tribunal Supremo, the judgment is binding in the specific case and also serves as guidance for similar disputes in Navarra and beyond.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).