Labor Rights and Social Security in Spain
What is a Union?
Unions are formalized organizations that primarily defend and represent the interests of their members.
What is a Collective Agreement?
A collective agreement can establish requirements, in terms of rights, referenced to a previous one.
What is Collective Bargaining?
Collective bargaining has the following stages: proposal, response, establishment of the negotiating committee, publishing, and recording agreements.
Types of Agreement
Field of business or lower level than the company.
Minimum Contents of a Convention
- Specify who arranges the agreement.
- Define the personal, functional, territorial, and temporal scope.
- Determine the form and conditions for denouncing the agreement, including the notice period.
- Appoint a joint committee representing the parties to resolve any issues.
- Set the conditions and procedures in companies included in the agreement (in scope other than the Company) for failure to apply the wage system.
What is the Validity of a Collective Agreement?
A collective agreement that is not established in writing is null and void. It always requires a specific process of registration and validation.
- It must be reported to the competent labor authorities within 15 days after its signing.
- The labor authorities order the registration and publication, within 10 days, in the appropriate Gazette, considering the territorial scope.
- The agreement comes into force on the date agreed upon by the signatories.
What is a Strike?
A strike is a temporary cessation of work, a collective and concerted initiative by workers in one or more companies. Its general goal is to seek better economic or working conditions.
Types of Strikes
Reasons for a Lockout
- Danger to persons or things (violence).
- Missed or irregular production.
- Illegal occupation of the company (or presumption of these facts).
What is Social Security?
Social Security is a system that provides care and social benefits when needed.
Social Security Schemes
General: Employed persons.
Special:
- Self-employed.
- Seafarers.
- Agricultural Workers.
- Household Workers.
- Coal Mining Workers.
- Students.
- Civilian and Military Public Officials.
What is Temporary Disability?
Temporary disability is a case of suspension of the employment contract. It offers the possibility of entitlement to a daily allowance to compensate for lost income while healthcare is received due to a common contingency, illness, or accident outside the workplace.
Define Permanent Partial Disability
Permanent partial disability does not prevent further work on the fundamental tasks of the position, but the consequences consistently reduce performance by at least 33%.
Define Total Permanent Disability
With total permanent disability, the employee cannot perform the essential functions of their job but can perform other work.
Define Absolute Permanent Disability
Absolute permanent disability disables the worker from any profession or trade.
Define Great Disability
A person with great disability requires the help of others to perform the most basic acts of life, such as getting up, eating, and dressing.