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Spain - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Madrid

 

CLIMATE

Temperate. Clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along the coast. Cloudy, cold winters in the interior. Partly cloudy and cool along the coast.

 

LANGUAGES

Castilian Spanish (official, 74%), Catalan (17%), Galician (7%) and Basque (2%).

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Civil law system, with regional applications. Spain does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Euros (1 USD = 1.07090 EUR as of June 1, 2002)

 

SPAIN - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

SPAIN - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Madrid

Serrano 75

APO AE 09642

Madrid, Spain 28006

Telephone: [34] (1) 587-2200

Fax: [34] (1) 587-2303

http://www.embusa.es

 

U.S. Consulate General Barecelona

Po. Reina Elisenda de Montcada, 23

Barcelona, Spain 08034

Telephone: [34] 93280-2227

Fax: [34] 93205-5206

 

Embassy of Spain at Washington D.C.

2375 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20037

Telephone: (202) 452-0100

http://www.spainemb.org

 

SPAIN - HOLIDAYS

 

Each autonomous region has extra official public holidays celebrated only within its boundaries.

 

SPAIN - LEAVE

Vacation: 4 weeks each year

Maternity: 16 weeks (paid by Social Security)

 

SPAIN - MINIMUM AGE

The Government prohibits forced and bonded child labor and enforces this prohibition effectively (see Section 6.c.). The statutory minimum age for the employment of children is 16 years. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is primarily responsible for enforcement. The minimum age is effectively enforced in major industries and in the service sector. It is more difficult to control on small farms and in family-owned businesses. Legislation prohibiting child labor is effectively enforced in the special economic zones. The law also prohibits the employment of persons under the age of 18 at night, for overtime work, or in sectors considered hazardous.

 

SPAIN - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The minimum wage was set in December 2001 for 2002 and is 14.47 euros per day or 442.20 euros per month, a 2 percent increase compared with 2001. The rate is revised every year in line with the consumer price index and is enforced effectively by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

 

SPAIN - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

SPAIN - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a.      The Right of Association

 

The Constitution and laws ensure that all workers, except those in the military services, judges, magistrates, and prosecutors, are entitled to form or join unions of their own choosing, and workers exercise this right in practice. Approximately 15 percent of the workforce is unionized. Under the Constitution, trade unions are free to choose their representatives, determine their policies, and represent their members' interests. Unions are not restricted or harassed by the Government and are independent of political parties. The two main labor federations are the Workers' Committees (Comisiones Obreras) and the General Union of Workers (Union General de Trabajadores).
 
The Constitution provides for the right to strike. A strike in nonessential services is legal if its sponsors give 5 days' notice. Any striking union must respect minimum service requirements negotiated with the respective employer. The Constitutional Court has interpreted the right to strike to include general strikes called to protest government policy. According to the Ministry of Labor, there were 646 strikes during the year through November, with approximately 475,000 participants and 1.8 million lost workdays, compared with 727 strikes with 2 million participants and 3.5 million lost workdays in all of 2000. The law prohibits retaliation against strikers.
 
Unions are free to form or join federations and affiliate with international bodies and do so without hindrance.

 

b.      The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively, including for all workers in the public sector except military personnel, and unions exercise this right in practice. Public sector collective bargaining in 1990 was broadened to include salaries and employment levels, but the Government retained the right to set these if negotiations failed. Collective bargaining agreements are widespread in both the public and private sectors; in the latter they cover 60 percent of workers, even though only about 15 percent of workers are union members.

 

The law prohibits discrimination by employers against trade union members and organizers. Discrimination cases have priority in the labor courts. The law gives unions a role in controlling temporary work contracts to prevent the abuse of such contracts and of termination actions. Unions nonetheless contend that employers practice discrimination in many cases by refusing to renew the temporary contracts of workers engaging in union organizing. Approximately one-third of all employees are under temporary contracts.

 

Labor regulations and practices in free trade zones and export processing zones are the same as in the rest of the country. Union membership in these zones is reportedly higher than the average throughout the country.

 

c.      Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including that performed by children; however, there were instances of trafficking in women for prostitution (see Section 6.f.).

 

The Government prohibits forced or bonded labor by children; however, there were reports of trafficking in teenage girls for prostitution (see Section 6.f.).

 

d.      Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The statutory minimum age for the employment of children is 16 years. The law also prohibits the employment of persons under the age of 18 at night, for overtime work, or in sectors considered hazardous. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is primarily responsible for enforcement, and the minimum age is enforced effectively in major industries and in the service sector. It was more difficult to enforce the law on small farms and in family-owned businesses, where some child labor persisted. Legislation prohibiting child labor is enforced effectively in the special economic zones.

 

In April the Government ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

The law prohibits forced or bonded labor by children; however, there were reports of trafficking in teenage girls for prostitution (see Section 6.f.).

 

e.      Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

Each year the Government revises its minimum wage for workers over age 18, in line with the consumer price index. In December the Government raised the minimum wage for 2002 by 2 percent, to $394 (442.20 euros) monthly or $13.13 (14.74 euros) daily. The national minimum wage provides a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The Ministry of Labor effectively enforces the minimum wage. The law sets a 40-hour workweek with an unbroken rest period of 36 hours after each 40 hours worked. Workers enjoy 12 paid holidays a year and a month's paid vacation.

 

The National Institute of Safety and Health in the Ministry of Labor and Social Security has technical responsibility for developing labor standards, but the Inspectorate of Labor has responsibility for enforcing the legislation through judicial action when infractions are found. Unions have criticized the Government for devoting insufficient resources to inspection and enforcement. Workers have firm legal protection for filing complaints about hazardous conditions, but easily replaced temporary workers may be reluctant to use this protection for fear of losing their jobs.

 

Unions and immigrant rights NGO's report that illegal immigrants often work for substandard pay and in substandard conditions, mainly in agriculture. The Inspectorate of Labor reported 5,125 cases of labor rights violations related to immigrants during 2000, and 5,545 such violations in the first 9 months of the year. In December 2000, the Government amended the immigration law to increase sanctions on employers who hire illegal aliens and to draw a sharper distinction between the rights afforded to legal versus illegal immigrants. Under the amended law, illegal aliens do not have the right to join unions or strike.

 

f.      Trafficking in Persons

 

The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, trafficking in women and teenage girls remained a problem. Trafficking involves almost exclusively the importation of women for prostitution, although there are reports of occasional cases in which victims are employed in other work, including agriculture and sweatshops. Trafficked women are usually 18 to 30 years of age, but sometimes are girls as young as age 16. There are few reports of trafficking in younger minors.

 

Women are trafficked primarily from Latin America (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Brazil), East European countries, sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Guinea, Sierra Leone), and, to a lesser extent, North Africa. Asians, including Chinese, are trafficked to a much lesser degree, and more often for work other than prostitution. Traffickers use coercion, including confiscation of documents, violence, and threats against family members to keep victims working in prostitution. As a group, women from Eastern Europe reportedly are subject to more severe violence and threats on the part of traffickers. Some victims from sub-Sarahan Africa reportedly are sold to traffickers by members of their own families. Traffickers lure some victims from other regions with false promises of employment in service industries and agriculture and then force them into prostitution upon arrival in Spain.

 

The 2000 Immigration law redefined trafficking as a criminal offense. The penalty for trafficking is 2 to 4 years' imprisonment and a fine, or 6 to 12 years if the crime is committed by a public official. The exploitation of prostitutes through coercion or fraud and the exploitation of workers in general also are illegal, although prostitution is legal. Trafficking in workers is punishable by 2 to 5 years' imprisonment and a fine. During 2000 law enforcement agencies arrested over 1,000 individuals involved in some aspect of trafficking in persons or migrant smuggling and initiated over 700 prosecutions.

 

SPAIN - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The law sets a 40-hour workweek with an unbroken rest period of 36 hours after each 40 hours worked.

 

SPAIN - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

SPAIN - TOTALIZATION AGREEMENT WITH U.S.

Effective Date of Agreement: April 1, 1988.

 

Coverage and Social Security Taxes:

 

For employees sent by a Spanish employer to work in the U.S. for five years or less, taxes and coverage fall to Spain. If the employee is sent to work in the U.S. for more than five years, or was hired in the U.S., taxes and coverage fall to the U.S.

 

Certificate of Coverage Request: 

 

To establish an employee's exemption from coverage under the U.S. Social Security system, the employer in Spain must request a certificate of coverage from the regional center of the provincial office of the National Institute of Social Security in the Spanish province where the employer is located. The same information required for a certificate of coverage from the U.S. is needed to get a certificate of coverage from Spain except that the employee's Spanish Social Security number should be shown rather than the U.S. number.

 

Minimum Credits Needed:

 

An employee without enough work credits to qualify for Spanish benefits, but with at least one year of coverage under the Spanish system, may combine Social Security credits from the U.S. and Spain to meet eligibility requirements.

 

Summary of Social Security Benefits: 

 

Retirement or old-age benefits are payable at age 65, or in certain conditions, reduced pension as early as age 60. Provisional disability benefits are payable to individuals who have credit for 180 days of contributions during the five year immediately preceding the onset of disability. Permanent benefits are payable if the employee's incapacity continues beyond the period of eligibility or provisional benefits. There are no provisions for family benefits; however, a worker's pension may be increased if the worker receives a minimum benefit and has a dependent spouse, or dependant children under age 18 or disabled. Full survivor benefits are payable at age 65; reduced benefits are payable at any age; children's benefits are payable up to age 18 benefit is doubled if both parents are deceased). There is a flat-rate funeral grant.

 

Additional Information:

 

For specific information about Spain's Social Security program, visit a local Spanish Social Security office in Spain, or write to:

 

Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social

Calle Padre Damian 4 y 6

28036 Madrid

SPAIN

 

See Totalization Agreements