Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure ES-2020-12/548 – Updated – measures in Spain
Country | Spain , applies nationwide |
Time period | Temporary, 18 March 2020 – 30 June 2022 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Employment protection and retention
– Income support for people in employment (e.g., short-time work) |
Author | Carlos Molina (UAB) and Jessica Durán (IKEI) |
Measure added | 13 April 2020 (updated 30 August 2022) |
With the objective of allowing companies to maintain their activities in the context of the COVID-19, measures have been taken in order to speed up and make more flexible the process whereby companies can implement collective temporary redundancies and apply reduced working time schemes.
Contract suspensions and reductions in working hours that have their direct cause in loss of activity as a consequence of COVID-19, including the declaration of the state of alarm, which imply suspension or cancellation of activities, temporary closure of places of public influx, restrictions on public transport and, in general, the mobility of people and / or goods, lack of supplies that seriously impede the continued development of the activity, or in urgent and extraordinary situations due to the contagion of the staff or the adoption of preventive isolation measures decreed by the health authority, which are duly accredited, will be considered as coming from a situation of force majeure, with the consequences derived from article 47 of the revised text of the Workers' Statute Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23.
In the cases in which the company decides to suspend contracts or temporarily reduce the working day, the following process will be followed:
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
22 February 2022 |
The measure was extended until 28 February 2022 and subsequently to 30 June 2022. Update history is available at the end of Article 6 . |
The number of workers affected by this policy in the period January-September 2020 has been 974,489 workers.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Employees in standard employment
|
Does not apply to businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Company / Companies |
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative |
Form | Direct consultation outside a formal body | Direct consultation outside a formal body |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
Social partners were involved in designing, implementing and monitoring this policy measure. Their involvement was preceded by a bipartite agreement between the most representative trade unions and employer organisation about measures to face the COVID-19 crisis.
Social partners were very supportive of this policy measure as it came out from social dialogue.
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Flexibilisation of temporary adjustment of business activities to avoid layoffs, measure ES-2020-12/548 (measures in Spain), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/ES-2020-12_548.html
Share
30 January 2023
Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.
Article12 September 2022
Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Article12 September 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.
Article5 July 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.
ArticleDisclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.