Recently it has been implemented the extent of the application of discounts in the payment of the penalties imposed by the Labour Inspection. It is an approved measure several years ago, but which for various "bureaucratic" reasons ran out of application.

These discounts consist of a reduction of 20% of the amount paid before expiry of the deadline for voluntary payment, and another 20% by the explicit recognition of the violation (renounce to appeal to the Act of infringement).

Since the usual sanctions stem from serious offences, with a minimum amount of €2040, the discount of 40% is really significant.

Now, is it advisable to get the discount?. We only propose this question to provoke reflection on this, and that this amount of money does not make anyone forget that back of the sanction there may be other requirements of far more important responsibilities.

The demands of responsibility for risk prevention can be administrative, civil, criminal and social. The best known is the sanction of the labour inspection, the administrative sanction. But it is also a sanction the application of the surcharge of benefits in case of accident with consequences on the health of workers. And we must remember that the surcharge of benefits which can be imposed moves between 30% and 50% of benefits paid by the mutual of accidents, which can be a sum of several tens of thousands of dollars.

And in case of accident, criminal responsibilities may also be required  due to lack of measures of safety or negligence in monitoring compliance with such measures ("culpa in vigilando"). And here you may request payment of damages (not always covered by  the liability policy that has the company contracted), and also prison terms for the owner or Manager of the company, which has much more serious personal consequences than merely economic, of course.

As an example, we explain a practical case in which a construction worker lost the vision in one eye in an accident at work, which when trying to drive a nail in facade, was thrown out and hit him in one eye, since it had no safety goggles. Inspection imposed a penalty of 3000 euros, for lack of security measures. But being a young person, the granted disability involved an expenditure to the mutual of 200000 euros (the mutual makes a provision for the payment of the disability pension until his retirement). Therefore, a penalty surcharge of benefits must be imposed, and 30% of the total quantity is more than 70000 euros. And the case, ex-officio, is already in the criminal courts.

The surcharge of benefits depends entirely on the validity of the first sanction of inspection. If one accepts the existence of the infringement of lack of security measures, there is no doubt about the validity of the performance fee. And in the criminal courts, the acceptance of the violation imposed by inspection will also mark the case instruction.

So that, in case of possibility of new responsibilities arising, it is necessary to use sanctions first, but miss out on the benefit of the discount. If not, the payment discount will involve the impossibility of defending the rest of requirements of responsibilities. In each case, legal and prevention advisers (that also must be an expert in the legal consequences of the action) will tell you what is most suitable.

Now you can get up to a 40% discount on the payment of penalties for inspection. But sometimes is counterproductive recently time has put into practice the extent of the application of discounts in the payment of the penalties imposed by the Labour Inspectorate. It is an approved measure several years ago, but which for various reasons "bureaucratic" ran out of application. These discounts consist of a reduction of 20% of the amount paid before expiry of the deadline for voluntary payment, and another 20% by the explicit recognition of the violation (waiver of appeals to the Act of infringement). Since the usual sanctions stem from serious offences, with a minimum amount of €2040, the discount of 40% is really a significant amount. Now, is it advisable to get the discount?. The question only we pose to provoke reflection on this, and that this amount of money does not forget anyone that behind the sanction may be...