sponsored with funds of the European Union
Spain (ES)
Employment
The number of employees in Spain's agriculture, horticulture, forestry, plant production, animal production, nature parks, hunting, co-operatives and VET services is 725,000. Thereof full-time: 125,000; part-time 600,000. Males and females account for half the number each. The number of foreign migrant workers is 180,000, the number of migrant workers without official documents is estimated to be 35,000.
International Comparison of Employment
Wages and Labour Costs
The monthly income is € 700, the annual income is € 8,400. Deductions from the worker's wage are 11 % paid into the welfare funds for financing unemployment insurance, education and training and an insolvency insurance.
Employers pay 15.5 % of the wage as welfare insurance contributions. The minimum income tax rate is 2 %. For agricultural workers the statutory minimum wage is the actual wage.
When collective agreements are concluded they are generally binding, so 100 % of the workers get these wages.
International Comparison of Wages and Labour Costs
Working Time
Under the collective agreements the working time is 40 hours per week, but in the companies people work longer. Overtime work is paid extra or balanced out, at least in larger companies. Smaller companies (fewer than 10 employees) do not really observe this rule.
In a 5-day week there are 8 working hours per day, in a 6-day week there are 6.5 hours per day.
International Comparison of Working Time
Leave and Paid Holidays
Workers who are employed throughout the year are legally entitled to 30 holidays per year (including Saturdays and Sundays). The collective agreement has laid down 22 working days, not including Saturdays and Sundays. There are 12 national and 2 regional public holidays.
International Comparison of Leave and Paid Holidays
Social Insurance
There is a uniform welfare insurance system for employees. Various state institutions run the pension, health, unemployment, and accident insurance schemes.
Occupational Health and Safety
In Spain's agriculture there are 30-35 deaths every year. Working time lost by work accidents is 15 % (all employees).
International Comparison of Occupational Health and Safety
Trade Union Influence
Taken together the trade unions (CC.OO and UGT) have a degree of unionisation of 14 %. The trade unions are present in 20 % of the 250,000 companies. The union' reach varies considerably between the regions, it can be up to 50 %.
International Comparison of Trade Union Influence
Minimum Standards
In Spain there is a statutory minimum wage (Cf. Table). That is important for the agricultural workers in the low-wage sector because many are paid according to the minimum wage.
International Comparison of Minimum Standards
Trade Union Participation
In companies with fewer than 50 employees the workers can elect "delegados", in companies with more than 50 employees they can elect a "comite des empresas". In addition to the committees the companies with more than 50 employees can elect specialists for health and safety at work. They are the trade union officers for prevention at the same time.
In the national council and provincial councils the trade unions work in a tri-partite system (1 union member, 1 employer and 1 state representative) that deals with influencing and supervising the administration.
In vocational training the trade unions are active at the national and regional levels in FORCEM, a tri-partite education and training fund. Every year 15,000 workers go through FAA qualification courses, mainly dealing with electronic data processing and tractor driving licenses.
The unions participate in programmes such as Leonardo or rural development programmes.
Trade unions and employer representatives have the same number of representatives and the same rights everywhere, e. g. in the Spanish Economic and Social Council.
International Comparison of Trade Union Participation
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