Workers’ Statute:
www.igsap.map.es/cia/dispo/rdlg1-95.htm
www.inem.es/legis/empleo/rdley1_95.htm

The regulations on employment and related social factors can be found in a user-friendly, easy to understand guide called the Employment and Social Services Guide (Guía Laboral y de Asuntos Sociales), written and published by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs.

Guía Laboral y de Asuntos Sociales:
http://www.mtas.es/Guia2003/portada.htm (also in English)

Collective Agreements: These are agreements signed by employers and workers’ representatives defining working conditions and productivity. They may deal with wages, hours of work, professional categories, length of contracts, works committees, employment conditions, etc.

In view of the huge number of collective agreements in existence, the best thing to do is to contact one of the Spanish trade unions to make sure you have the right one and to find out whether a new one is due to be signed in the near future.

The Employment Contract: While some contracts are indefinite, others are drawn up for a specific length of time, although the latter type may not last more than three years.

In view of the many different types of contract in existence, the best thing to do is to consult the Employment Guide (Guía Laboral) to gain an understanding of the differences between one type and another.

• A basic wage (fixed)
• Supplementary payments depending on:
  • The worker’s personal situation
  • The work performed
  • The company’s position and net profits

Supplementary payments normally covered in collective bargaining agreements may include length of service, the paga extra or extra month’s salary generally paid twice a year, profit sharing, etc.

Payment: Normally, companies pay their employees once a month by bank transfer, often on the last working day of the month.

The paga extra: All workers are entitled to at least two extra payments a year, one at Christmas and the other normally towards the end of June. If an agreement exists, each one normally corresponds to one month’s gross wage, and is paid pro rata for the months concerned.

• The working day is set out in the collective bargaining agreement or employment contract.
• By law, workers can work up to 40 hours per week on average over the year, although collective bargaining agreements tend to envisage 35 to 38 working hours.
• Daily hours are limited to 9.
• Workers normally work between Monday and Friday.
• Between June and September many firms switch to an intensive working day, running from 08.00 hours to 15.00 hours without a break or with only a short break.
• Overtime:
  • The law allows a maximum of 80 hours per annum in exchange for remuneration or days off.
  • Collective agreements, which are much stricter, may exclude any type of habitual overtime.

Note: In Spain workers experience difficulties in trying to reconcile their professional and private lives because:

• Particularly in the private sector, the working day is full time.
• The way the working day is organised:
  • Start: between 08.30 and 09.00 hours
  • Breakfast break: a minimum of 15 minutes
  • Lunch break: a minimum of one hour between 14.00 and 16.00 hours
  • Finish: around 19.00 hours

Holidays: Although collective or individual negotiations may set the amount of paid holiday, the law stipulates a minimum of 30 calendar days, including Saturdays and Sundays, for each working year.

If the worker has not worked for the employer for a year, holidays are counted on a pro rata basis from the time (s)he began working for the firm.

Public Holidays are paid and are not recoverable. 14 days each year, shared between national, regional and local holidays.

Further information:
www.seg-social.es/inicio (choose 'información general' 'calendario laboral')

Maternity/Paternity Leave: Under normal circumstances, working women are entitled to 16 weeks off. The women herself decides how to distribute this time, although she must take six weeks off after giving birth.

If the father also works, he can take some days off, although they must be continuous.

Adoption or fostering: If an adopted or fostered child is under six years old, under normal circumstances the time off work is 16 weeks. The parents can take time off at the same time or one after the other; however, they must always take uninterrupted periods off, and within the limits indicated.

• A temporary contract of over one year: two weeks’ notice must be given by whoever breaks the contract (either the employer or the employee).
• The worker handing in his/her notice: the notice period will be stated either in the collective agreement, the contract or in local customs.

Further information at the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs (also in English)

Current position of non-married couples in Spain: A bill recognising the rights of non-married couples should have been approved by Parliament in September 2000, but as the political party in power had a majority, it was able to dismiss it.

Consequently, in principle, non-married couples are not treated the same as married couples. However, each case must be treated individually according to the particular situation, because exceptions do exist.

In addition, the law in some Autonomous Regions (e.g. Catalonia and Aragon) recognise certain rights for non-married couples, although questions of Social Security, widow’s/widower’s pension or employment legislation are left aside.

Healthcare Services: Non-married couples enjoy exactly the same rights as married couples, and there is no difference at all in how they are treated.

Widow’s / Widower’s pension: When one member of a non-married couple dies, the surviving partner is not entitled to any pension. However, if the surviving partner wishes to defend this right and is prepared to go to court to do so, there is a good chance of winning the case and thereby obtaining a Widow’s/ Widower’s pension.

Maternity/Paternity pensions: Non-married couples may enjoy maternity/paternity leave under the same conditions as married couples.