Joint Liability under Art. 42 of the Workers' Statute and the TGSS: How We Annulled a €92,381 Derivation (Judgment 183/2026)

A judgment that matters for small industrial companies

On 30 April 2026, the Tribunal de Instancia de Alicante / Alacant — Administrative Section, Court 1, issued Judgment 183/2026, fully upholding our judicial appeal and annulling a joint liability derivation by the Spanish Social Security Treasury (TGSS) for €92,381.36.

The TGSS sought to make our client — a small footwear company in the province of Alicante — pay the unpaid social security contributions of a different company for the period 06/2021 to 04/2023, alleging an alleged subcontracting of "own activity" under Article 42 of the Workers' Statute.

We proved in court that no real subcontracting existed — only a simple mercantile relationship of sporadic footwear stitching orders, with no organisational integration or functional dependency. The Court agreed, annulled the TGSS resolution and ordered the definitive archiving of the file, without costs given the legitimate doubts of fact and law.

This decision is especially relevant for freelancers, workshops, industrial SMEs and companies in the Valencian Community that receive manufacturing, stitching, cutting, assembly or ancillary service orders and suddenly find themselves claimed by the Treasury as jointly liable for their client's labour debts.

1. What is Article 42 of the Workers' Statute?

Art. 42 ET establishes that the principal employer who contracts or subcontracts with others the performance of works or services corresponding to its own activity shall be jointly and severally liable, for the three years following the end of the assignment, for the social security obligations incurred by contractors and subcontractors during the term of the contract.

In plain words: if you subcontract another company to do something you would normally do as part of your business, and that company does not pay its workers' contributions, the TGSS can come and claim them from you.

It is a powerful enforcement tool. But — here is the crucial point — it only applies when ALL legal and case-law requirements are met. And in many cases they are not.

2. The three requirements the TGSS MUST prove (and often fails to)

For a joint liability derivation under Art. 42 ET to succeed, the Treasury must cumulatively prove:

1. The existence of a genuine subcontract