despedido vs. cese vs. terminacion (del empleo)

Question

One last question for the day!

I have noticed that there are several ways to express the termination of employment in Spanish.

For example, If I were to say the following in English:

• Employment may be terminated during this period for any lawful reason.

I am unsure of how I would express this in Spanish. After doing some research I've found four different ways to express "employment termination" in Spanish:

1. el cese/"dar el cese al empleado"
2. despedido/ "despedir de un empleo"
3. terminación de la relación laboral
4. terminación del empleo

Which of the above would be best used in the above English sentence?

My guesses:

• El empleo se termina por cualquier razón legal durante este periodo.
• Se puede dar el cese al empleado por cualquier razón legal durante este periodo.

Any help is appreciated! =]

Answer 1

Hello,

As you proposes, empleo seems to be the most accurate translation for 'employment', but sounds a little bit weird in Spanish saying "El empleo se termina". We use the word empleo in other contexts; usually as a synonym of 'job'.

Despido sounds very rough. 'To fire someone' normally is an unilateral / non pleasant decision.

I like terminación de la relación laboral because is very, very neutral. But you can use also terminar el contrato laboral.

So, my guess here:

La relación laboral puede ser terminada durante este periodo por cualquier motivo lícito/legal.

I hope this helps.

Saludos.

Answer 2

El empleo pueda ser terminado durante este periodo/tiempo por cualquiera razón legal/ligítimo.

But I'm not a native speaker.