Labor Newsletter - November 2021 | News

The Government progresses with the labor reform and announces that it will approved before the end of 2021

The Executive continues negotiations with the social agents and aims to approve the labor reform before the end of the year. In this regard, the main issues on which the negotiation is focusing are, among others, the following:

• Modification of the temporary hiring regime: the Government proposes to replace the current modalities with the so-called temporary contracts due to productive causes (limiting their duration to a maximum of six months or twelve if enabled by the sectoral collective agreement) and organizational causes (substitution contracts). It also proposes that the termination of a temporary contract be declared null and void. The possibility of increasing Social Security contributions for companies that terminate temporary contracts has also been raised.
• Modification of training and internship contracts, limiting the latter to the duration of one year.
• Strengthening of the figure of the fixed-term contract for the performance of seasonal work or work linked to seasonal productive activities.
• Modification in the regime of substantial modifications of working conditions and referral, when there is no unitary representation in the company, to the most representative trade unions in the sector as the first option for negotiation.
• Subcontracting reform. The joint and several liability for wages and Social Security obligations of the client company will be applied in all cases except when the subcontractor develops a complementary activity, which is strictly disconnected from the productive activity of the main company or its actual or potential purpose. Likewise, the collective bargaining agreement applicable to the sector of the activity carried out in the contract must be applied to the employees of the contract.
• Modification and restriction of the matters in which sectoral collective bargaining agreements prevail over company collective bargaining agreements and ultra-activity of collective bargaining agreements.
• Implementation of the so-called RED mechanism for employment flexibility and stabilization, which establishes three types of ERTE (force majeure, restructuring and sectoral).

All these measures are currently under discussion and negotiation and are not definitive.

The Strategic Plan of the Labor and Social Security Inspection 2021-2023 has been approved

The Council of Ministers has approved the Strategic Plan for the Labor and Social Security Inspection 2021-2023, which is committed to modernizing the entity, providing it with new tools and resources.

Among the measures envisaged in the plan are the following:

• The updating of strategies and intervention plans to deal with the newest forms of labor fraud.
• The creation of the State Office for Combating Discrimination.
• The configuration of a special unit focused on the fight against transnational labor fraud.
• The promotion of new technologies and big data in the design of inspection actions.
• The plan also foresees reinforcing the intervention in collective dismissals, contract suspensions and substantial modifications of working conditions, as well as extending its competences to intervene in the non-application of collective bargaining agreements.

Agreement between the Government and labor unions for the increase in social security contributions up to 2032

The Government has agreed with the trade unions that, as from 2023, and over a period of ten years, an additional finalist contribution will be set which will feed the Social Security Reserve Fund of 0.6 percentage points, of which 0.5 will correspond to the company and 0.1 to the worker.

This final contribution will be maintained until 2032.

The labor calendar for 2022 has been published

The BOE has published the Resolution of October 14, 2021, of the Directorate General of Labor, which publishes the list of working holidays for the year 2022 that includes the working holidays scheduled for next year, as we reported in this alert.

The following days will be common holidays throughout Spain, which will be paid and non-recoverable: January 1, January 6, April 15, August 15, October 12, November 1, December 6 and December 8. In addition, the autonomous communities and municipalities will add local holidays. The communities may also substitute May 1 and December 25 for other days as they are public holidays that coincide on a Sunday.

Criteria for the prevention of occupational hazards in teleworking

The National Institute for Safety and Health at Work has prepared a technical note on prevention criteria for the integration of teleworking in the occupational safety and health management system. It is a guide of good practices with non-mandatory indications on the management of the prevention of occupational risks associated with teleworking.

The guide makes recommendations on the type of preventive organization that best suits the structure of the company considering telework, the adaptation of the occupational risk prevention plan, the evaluation of occupational risks, which reaches the enabled area of the home or place chosen for the development of teleworking, and the planning of preventive measures, mainly training.

Protection under ERTE temporary layoff procedure system extended until February 28, 2022, approval of new minimum wage and other employment measures

The Government and the social agents have reached the VI Social Agreement for the Defense of Employment, as we reported in this alert.

This agreement is included in Royal Decree-Law 18/2021, of September 28, on urgent measures for the protection of employment, the economic recovery and the improvement of the labor market, which maintains the ERTE model for those cases in force as of September 30, 2021, the extension of which may take effect until February 28, 2022 upon request and authorization by the labor authority. Companies affected by new health measures between November 1, 2021 and February 28, 2022 may request a new ERTE modality, which will center around training.

Royal Decree 817/2021, of September 28, which sets the minimum interprofessional wage for 2021, has also been published, under which it is increased to €32.17/day or €965/month.

In addition, Law 12/2021, of September 28, has been published to guarantee the labor rights of persons engaged in delivery in the field of digital platforms, which validates Royal Decree-Law 9/2021.

The Labor and Social Security Inspection starts a communications campaign to companies within the framework of the shock plan against fraud in temporary contracts

The Labor and Social Security Inspection (ITSS) has started, at state level, a communications campaign to companies urging them to transform temporary contracts into permanent contracts, within the framework of the shock plan against fraud in temporary hiring.

In the communications sent, in addition to including the details of the temporary contracts identified by the ITSS, they inform that, if the contracts are not transformed, the corresponding inspection activity may be initiated by the Provincial Labor and Social Security Inspection. In addition, a reminder is included that non-compliance in this matter is typified as a severe infraction by Article 7.2 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000, of August 4, which approves the revised text of the Law on Infractions and Penalties in the Social Order (LISOS).