Fátima Báñez meets with social stakeholders to boost social dialogue and establish work agenda until end of year

During the meeting, the minister passed on the proposal from the Ministry of Employment and Social Security to the social stakeholders at the start of the session on social dialogue for each of the specialised panels set up on these issues:

Employment quality panel

On the issue of joining the labour market:

a) Reducing the number of forms of contract to three (permanent contract, "increased protection" contract and training contract). Working hours: full time/part time.

b) Strengthening principle of causality in temporary contracts within the framework of collective bargaining and determining the number of fixed-term contracts, as well as promoting permanent contracts and the transformation of temporary employment contracts into permanent contracts.

c) Establishing disincentives for companies that resort, to a large extent, to temporary contracts and excessive staff rotation by increasing the social contributions they must make to unemployment benefits (penalty), whilst establishing a new incentive (bonus) in contributions for those companies that have a high percentage of permanent contracts compared with other companies belonging to the same sector.

d) Reinforcing the actions of the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate in relation to fraudulent contracts, boosting the automatic transformation from unjustified temporary employment contracts into permanent contracts and revising the penalty system under the Law on Labour Breaches and Penalties in order to increase the penalties for fraud.

On the issue of enhancing labour equality, adopting transparency measures that quantify the remuneration by gender in line with a professional classification table.

On the issue of home/work reconciliation, approving an agreement to streamline timetables at companies and institutions that foster the compatibility of work life with personal and family life.

On the issue of salaries, we propose to jointly initiate, together with social stakeholders, an analysis of the factors that the Workers' Statute establishes in order to determine the Minimum Wage for 2018.

Employment action plan panel

Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad SocialOn the issue of active employment policies and unemployment benefits, the following proposals, among others:

a) Extend, on an extraordinary yet temporary basis until 30 April 2018, the professional re-qualification programme for people that exhaust their unemployment protection (PREPARA Plan).

b) Integrate and streamline those programmes that complement unemployment protection prior to 30 April 2018.

c) Implement the Youth Employment Action Plan that was proposed by the social dialogue panel in July but that is yet to be firmed up, which among other measures provides for:

• Renovation of the Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment Strategy 2017-2020.
• Training and transfer of knowledge at work programme through a relief contract with a new form of partial retirement that allows for the training of young workers registered with the National Youth Guarantee System who join the company without any prior experience or specific qualifications for this job position.
• Back-up subsidy of 80% of the IPREM [Public Index of Multiple Effect Income] (430 euros) for those young people registered with the National Youth Guarantee System that sign a training and apprenticeship contract.
• Increase of up to a 3,000-euro discount for conversion of these training and apprenticeship contracts into permanent contracts.
• Bringing work experience contracts in line with training and apprenticeship contracts in terms of contributions and incentives for their conversion into permanent employment contracts.
• Approval, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, of a Statute on non-labour practices.
• National programme on career guidance, training and direct aid for unqualified young people that have dropped out of the education system and that are beneficiaries of the National Youth Guarantee System.

Vocational training for employment panel

It is proposed to consolidate the implementation of the new model of vocational training for employment. To achieve this, it is imperative to:

a) Approve a potential call for the granting of public subsidies for the implementation of a training programme in information and communication technologies and digital economy programme as soon as possible.

b) Approve a potential call for the granting of public subsidies for the implementation of sector and cross-cutting training programmes aimed at people in work.

c) Approve a sector map so that Sectoral Joint Boards made up of company and workers' representatives that can perform the task of indentifying training needs.

d) Establish the functions of the Sectoral Joint Boards in determining training needs.

Pension panel

This panel seeks to specify measures to improve the sufficiency and sustainability of the system as a result of the dialogue in the Toledo Pact

Non official translation