A new conflict between government partners over legislative agendas. After starting the assembly by making visible the differences of opinion on an issue left over from the last parliament, unemployment benefitsNow they are clashing publicly again over another pending issue of the last legislature: the transposition of the European directive on transparent working conditions.
Minister of State for Employment, Joaquin Perez Rey, accused the PSOE of rejecting an improvement in the protection of part-time workers. Specifically, the Sumar-led department plans to include in the transfer a specific veto under which a company can unilaterally reduce a part-time employee’s working hours under the contract.
As Pérez Rey explained after a meeting with social representatives on Monday, “it’s a very drastic thing” because it harms the worker’s subsequent salary. There are approximately 2.6 million part-time workers in Spain. 73 percent of them are women-. Working poverty, the inability to make ends meet despite having a job, is generally associated not with low wages but with an inability to work the minimum number of hours per month to maintain an adequate payroll.
The transposition of the directive into domestic law was delayed by one and a half years; European Union (EU) would include it in Spanish legislation from August 2022. The rule would, among other things, require companies to detail a worker’s base salary, bonuses, working hours and work location in the same contract. It also includes a number of limits for companies regarding the additional hours part-time employees can do, although there is no consensus within the coalition on this point, as Yolanda Díaz’s ‘number 2’ in the Ministry noted. .
Labour’s forecast was for the transfer to be presented to Cabinet in the first half of February, but disagreements between partners are delaying its approval. The fact that the government does not have a solid parliamentary majority to ensure its approval hinders this process.
Reformation reopened
HE Ministry of Labor This Monday, he held a meeting with employers and unions to continue talks on unemployment benefits reform. This reform includes, among others, an increase in the normal subsidy for the first six months of income from the current 480 euros per month to 540 euros. It also opens minors’ access to subsidies 45 years without family responsibilities or workers throughout Spain, among others.
Most of its new features are scheduled to go into effect starting from: June 1but was overthrown by parliament in January. And now the Ministry of Labor has reopened this folder in the social dialogue in order to gain legitimacy and then “bring this reform to the parliamentary level as soon as possible”, as the Minister of Employment explained. Joaquin Perez ReyAfter the meeting, which lasted approximately 2 hours, a press conference was held.
A royal decree covering unemployment benefits reform collapsed after the Government failed to muster a sufficient parliamentary majority to push it forward. Podemos MPs, along with PP and Vox, voted against its approval, arguing that it meant a cut for the unemployed. more than 52 yearsBecause the reform reduces public contributions when they receive subsidies and worsens conditions for access to the future pension.
The subsidy reform, which initially caused serious disagreements between the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Labor, was not negotiated beyond a role-reversal meeting with social actors and was not subsequently pursued. The rule generalizes the possibility of making a salary compatible with continuing to receive subsidies for the first 45 days of the contract.
Labor is now looking for ways to combine elements handed down to it from unions and employers, including improving the protection of part-time workers and the transition of certain profiles to the private sector. Minimum Vital Income (IMV) or number of required runtimes Estremadura And Andalusia To be able to collect the subsidy as specified by the Secretary of State. However, regarding the argument of reducing the contribution base for the unemployed over 52, which Podemos put forward to justify its vote against, Labor did not show signs of wanting to change the changes envisaged by the reform.