Español
Deutsch
The government approves the labour reform and gives companies three months to adjust their temporary contracts before 30 March.
The labour reform, approved last December in the Council of Ministers, aims to put a stop to temporary contracts, restore balance to collective bargaining and incorporate temporary lay-offs (ERTE) into ordinary legislation, which will replace those used in pandemics, but with the same objective: to avoid dismissals.
Temporary contracts
Work or service contracts and temporary contracts for production circumstances registered from 31 December 2021 to 30 March 2022 will be governed by the legal regulations in force on the date on which they are entered into, but their duration may not exceed six months.
If concluded before 31 December, these contracts, as well as permanent contracts for construction work, will apply up to their maximum duration.
The reform, which is the result of an agreement between the government and the social partners, establishes that the ordinary employment contract will be indefinite and that temporary contracts can only be made for very specific reasons: for specific (foreseeable or unforeseeable) circumstances of production and to replace another worker with job reservation.
In this way, the contract for work or service, which allowed temporary contracts of up to four years in some cases, will be expelled from labour legislation.
Training contracts
At the same time, the reform strengthens the definition and causality of the training contract, offering two types of contract: the alternating training contract, which will combine work and training, and the contract for the acquisition of professional practice.
The permanent-discontinuous contract
The limitations on temporary contracts are intended to encourage the use of the permanent-discontinuous contract (when an employee does not work throughout the year) for seasonal tasks. In addition, the new text establishes that these workers will have their seniority counted for the entire period of their employment relationship, and not only for the periods during which they have worked.
Collective agreements
The regulation recovers the full ‘ultra-activity’ of collective agreements, so that they will be extended until they are replaced by new ones, without a time limit.
In addition, the sector agreement will recover its prevalence over the company agreement.
What will the ERTEs look like after the labour reform?
The regulation also strengthens temporary redundancy procedures (ERTEs) to avoid collective redundancies. Thus, ordinary labour legislation will include the ERTEs that have been used massively during the pandemic, with greater facilities for their processing, and will create new ones under the name RED Mechanism to respond to cyclical or sectoral crises.
The RED Mechanism In addition to the ERTEs, companies in crisis will be able to use the RED Mechanism for Employment Flexibility and Stabilisation, which will have two modalities: a cyclical one, when a macroeconomic situation makes it advisable to adopt stabilisation instruments; and another sectoral one, which companies will be able to use when a sector undergoes changes that create a need for retraining and professional transition.
The labour reform, approved last December in the Council of Ministers, aims to put a stop to temporary contracts, restore balance to collective bargaining and incorporate temporary lay-offs (ERTE) into ordinary legislation, which will replace those used in pandemics, but with the same objective: to avoid dismissals.
Temporary contracts
Work or service contracts and temporary contracts for production circumstances registered from 31 December 2021 to 30 March 2022 will be governed by the legal regulations in force on the date on which they are entered into, but their duration may not exceed six months.
If concluded before 31 December, these contracts, as well as permanent contracts for construction work, will apply up to their maximum duration.
The reform, which is the result of an agreement between the government and the social partners, establishes that the ordinary employment contract will be indefinite and that temporary contracts can only be made for very specific reasons: for specific (foreseeable or unforeseeable) circumstances of production and to replace another worker with job reservation.
In this way, the contract for work or service, which allowed temporary contracts of up to four years in some cases, will be expelled from labour legislation.
Training contracts
At the same time, the reform strengthens the definition and causality of the training contract, offering two types of contract: the alternating training contract, which will combine work and training, and the contract for the acquisition of professional practice.
The permanent-discontinuous contract
The limitations on temporary contracts are intended to encourage the use of the permanent-discontinuous contract (when an employee does not work throughout the year) for seasonal tasks. In addition, the new text establishes that these workers will have their seniority counted for the entire period of their employment relationship, and not only for the periods during which they have worked.
Collective agreements
The regulation recovers the full ‘ultra-activity’ of collective agreements, so that they will be extended until they are replaced by new ones, without a time limit.
In addition, the sector agreement will recover its prevalence over the company agreement.
What will the ERTEs look like after the labour reform?
The regulation also strengthens temporary redundancy procedures (ERTEs) to avoid collective redundancies. Thus, ordinary labour legislation will include the ERTEs that have been used massively during the pandemic, with greater facilities for their processing, and will create new ones under the name RED Mechanism to respond to cyclical or sectoral crises.
The RED Mechanism In addition to the ERTEs, companies in crisis will be able to use the RED Mechanism for Employment Flexibility and Stabilisation, which will have two modalities: a cyclical one, when a macroeconomic situation makes it advisable to adopt stabilisation instruments; and another sectoral one, which companies will be able to use when a sector undergoes changes that create a need for retraining and professional transition.
Solve your doubts
✅ Our staff speaks perfectly Spanish, Valencian, English and German with what will be able to communicate with us in your own language and thus clearly resolve your queries.
📍 Denia – Plaza del Convento, 6 – Mezzanine floor door B
📍 Valencia – Calle Creu Roja, 1 – Block 6, Floor 1, door 10 (* only by appointment)
✉📞 Contact: info@firmalex.com – Tel. +34 966 421 416 – Whatsapp +34 622 497 615