Description
A contrato de interinidad is a temporary employment contract for covering:
- The absence of an employee who is entitled to return to his/her post.
- A vacant post for which a selection/promotion process is underway to fill it permanently.
This page has fairly good descriptions of the different types of temporary employment contracts in Spain, although I would say their translation of “internship contract” for contrato de interinidad is probably misleading.
Equivalences and differences with the English legal system
Loosely, a contrato de interinidad can be described as a “relief” or “interim contract”, and this is how it is often translated.
Spanish labour law is, however, far more specific about classifying the different types of employment contracts than English law, and these loose equivalents do not capture the full meaning of the Spanish term by themselves.
Possible translations
An accurate translation for legal contexts would have to explain the circumstances that give rise to this contract and might look something like this:
interim contract to cover the absence of an employee entitled to return to his or her post or to cover a post while a selection/promotion process is underway to fill it permanently
While this is not very pretty, it’s probably the best options when accuracy is the key. Using a footnote to define the term could be the way to go.
“Relief” or “interim contract” might be the best option in general contexts; another option is “temporary replacement contract“.
It could be argued that using a term such as “interim/relief contract” is enough even in legal contexts as readers should themselves seek legal advice on what the term means.
If the translation were unique, this might be a valid argument; “interim”, however, is probably too run-of-the-mill for readers to know they should seek advice, and even someone with extensive knowledge of Spanish labour law may be left wondering to which of the Spanish contracts an “interim contract” refers.
Rationale
Click here to see what LegalSpainTerm is all about.
References/Further reading
‘contrato de interinidad’ (no date) Enciclopedia jurídica. Available at: http://www.enciclopedia-juridica.biz14.com/d/contrato-de-interinidad/contrato-de-interinidad.htm (Accessed: 01/09/11)
‘Job Market: Types of Contracts’ (2011) Invest in Spain. Available at: http://www.investinspain.org/icex/cda/controller/interes/0,5464,5322992_6261716_6278959_0,00.html (Accessed: 01/09/11)
‘Kinds of Employment’ (2010) Angloinfo. Available at: http://spain.angloinfo.com/working/eu-factsheets/kinds-of-employment/ (Accessed: 01/09/2011)
‘Temporary employment examined’ (2004) Eurofound. Available at: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2004/09/feature/es0409104f.htm (Accessed: 01/09/2011)
