Spain
Key Facts
| Population | 45,989,000 |
|---|---|
| Collective Bargaining Coverage | 71% |
| Proportion of Employees in Unions | 16% |
| Principal Level of Collective Bargaining |
industry – but new law gives precedence to company agreements |
| Workplace Representation |
works council (and trade union) |
| Board-level Representation |
yes: state-owned companies |
| Company Board Structure |
monistic |
Trade Union
Union density in Spain is relatively low at around 16%, although the results of elections to works councils indicate that unions have much wider support. There are two dominant union confederations in Spain, CCOO and the UGT, although there are other important groupings at regional level and in the public sector.
more ...Collective Bargaining
Negotiations take place at national, industry and company level in Spain and since 2002, with the exception of 2009, an annual national agreement has provided a framework for lower-level bargaining. The overall level of coverage is high at around 70% of the total workforce.
more ...Workplace Representation
Workplace representation in Spain has a clear legal framework, provided in the main by the 1980 workers statute and the 1985 law on trade union freedom. The law provides for elected representatives of the whole workforce in all but the smallest companies - employee delegates or works council. There are also separate union delegates in bigger companies.
more ...Board-level Representation
There is no overall right to employee board-level representation. However, there are a small number of employees on the boards of some public and recently privatised companies and savings banks.
more ...European-level Representation
Spanish members of bodies concerned with European Works Councils and European Companies are chosen by the unions which either together or separately have majority support in the companies concerned. On European Companies, the legislation makes clear that they should be selected in line with the support that the unions have received in the works council elections.
more ...Health and Safety
In undertakings with 30 or more workers, the safety rep is the staff representative. In undertakings with between 31 and 49 employees, the safety rep is chosen by and from amongst the staff representatives. As regards undertakings with more than 50 workers, the number of representatives depends on the size of the workforce at the establishment.
more ...