Workers’ Representation and Rights in Spain
Representation of Workers: The defense of workers’ interests is carried out by:
- Unions: With the right to intervene in work centers through union sections and union delegates.
- Delegates of Personnel and Company Committees: Workers elected by their colleagues every 4 years.
Unions: Associations formed by workers with the objective of defending their labor rights and achieving new ones.
Objectives of Unions:
- Fair wages
- Better working conditions
- Stable employment for each person
- Improved social and economic benefits
- Permanent democratization
Union Representatives:
- State Scope: Unions representing 10% or more of personnel and members of company committees in work centers’ elections are considered the most representative at the state level.
- Regional Scope: Unions representing 15% or more of the total delegates of personnel and company committees within an autonomous community, when there are more than 1,500 delegates or committees, are considered the most representative in that autonomous community.
Worker Participation in the Company: This is articulated through the delegates of the personnel and company committees, by means of direct, free, and secret personal vote. All workers with at least one month of seniority can be electors.
Delegates of Personnel and Company Committees: The number of delegates depends on the number of workers.
- Personnel Delegates: Representatives of workers in companies with 10 to 50 workers, or in companies with 6 to 10 workers if the workers decide so by majority vote in a free and secret election (companies with up to 30 workers have 1 delegate, between 31 and 49 have 3).
- Company Committees: Representative body of workers in companies with more than 50 workers. Companies with more than two work centers in the same province, where the total number of workers does not reach 50 in each center but exceeds 50 when added together, may have a joint committee. When a company has several work centers in the same province, some with more than 50 workers and others with less, committees are formed in the former and delegates in the latter. By agreement, the operation of an inter-center committee can be agreed upon, with a maximum of 13 members elected from the committees of the different centers (50-100 workers: 5 members, 101-250: 9, 251-500: 13, 501-750: 17, 751-1000: 21, and for every 1,000 additional workers, 2 more members, with a maximum of 75).
Competences and Guarantees of Personnel Delegates and Committees:
Competences:
- Receive information on the company’s economic performance, employment contracts, absenteeism, accidents, and illnesses, and sanctions for serious or very serious misconduct.
- Issue a report on workforce restructuring plans and changes in working conditions.
- Monitor compliance with labor regulations.
- Participate in collective bargaining.
Guarantees:
- Right to a contradictory proceeding before disciplinary action for serious or very serious misconduct.
- Right to remain in the company in case of collective dismissal.
- Right not to be dismissed or sanctioned for actions carried out in the exercise of their duties.
- Right to freedom of expression.
- Right to paid monthly hours for union activity according to a representative scale (100 workers: 10 hours/month, 101-250: 20, 251-500: 30, 501-750: 35, 750+: 40).
Right to Assembly of Workers: Workers have the right to meet in assemblies convened by personnel delegates, the company committee, or a number of workers representing less than 33% of the workforce. These assemblies must be communicated to the employer 48 hours in advance. The meetings will be held in the same work center, and the employer must facilitate them, unless: legal requirements are not met, more than two months have passed since the last meeting, except for informative assemblies, or the previous meeting was terminated due to the employer’s fault.
Strike: Collective suspension of work by common agreement. To be legal, it requires the agreement of the majority of workers or their representatives, and must be communicated to the employer and the labor authority 5 days in advance. A strike committee will be created with a maximum of 12 members. A strike is illegal if it is based on political reasons, except for those of a solidarity nature, or if it violates the agreed collective agreement. Established procedures must be followed for its convocation.
Lockout: Closure of the company by the employer in case of a strike or other situation where there is a risk of violence or damage to property, illegal occupation of the work center, or alteration of the production process. The employer must communicate the lockout to the labor authority within 12 hours. Workers’ salaries will be suspended.
Contesting Dismissal: If an employee disagrees with their dismissal, they can appeal it through the SMAC (Service of Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation), requesting conciliation. If no agreement is reached, they must file a complaint with the labor court within 20 days. The judge can rule the dismissal:
- Null: When the employer has violated any constitutional right, the worker must be reinstated and receive back pay.
- Unjustified: If the alleged cause for dismissal is not proven, the employer must choose between reinstatement or compensation.
- Improper: When the dismissal is not fair, the employer must choose between reinstatement or compensation within 5 days of the ruling.
Severance Pay:
- End of temporary contract: 8 days’ wages per year worked.
- Dismissal for objective reasons: Justified: 20 days. Improper: 45 days (33 days if the contract was permanent).
- Collective dismissal: 20 days.
- Modification of working conditions/schedule: 20 days.
- Dismissal for breach of contract by the employer: 20 days.
- Dismissal for death or retirement: 1 month.
- Disciplinary dismissal: Justified: No compensation. Improper: 45 days.
Calculating Compensation and Benefit Amount with a Base Salary of 1200: Referring to the scale of service duration, from 1080 to 1259 working days, the compensation is 360 days. The worker receives 70% of the base salary for the first 180 days and 60% from day 181 onwards.
Calculating Retirement Pension for a Worker Retiring at 65 with 29 Years of Social Security Contributions: 
