Probably only around one in eight employees in Spain (12.5%) are union members, 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, which work closely together, although there are other important groupings at regional level and in specific industries, particularly in the public sector. 1

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Union density and structure

There are no up-to-date official figures on union density (the proportion of employees who are union members) in Spain. The most recent official figures, showing that in 2010 16.4% of all those in work were union members, come from the now discontinued Survey on the Quality of Working Life (ECVT). 2 This looked at the proportion of those in employment who were unions members, and, if the calculation had just been based on employees – the usual basis for calculating union density, the percentage would have been higher, perhaps between 18% and 20%.

However, union membership in 2010 was at record levels, and figures published by the main union confederations show that membership has fallen since then, even if it has risen recently (see Membership trends). At the same time, employee numbers have risen, and by 2024, there were 20% more employees in Spain than in 2010. 3 As a result, union density seems certain to be lower than in 2010, and the OECD/AIAS ICTWSS database estimates union density at 12.5% in 2019. 4

Figures from the unions themselves (see below) indicate total union membership across all union groupings of just over 3.0 million. This implies a union density of 16.2% in 2024, although not all union members will be employees and some of the membership figures may be overstated.

Another measure of the degree of support for unions is provided by elections to works councils, which take place on a four-yearly basis. There were 93,530 separate workplace elections in 2023, involving more than 7.5 million employees (43% of the total), despite the fact that workers in companies and organisations with fewer than six employees are excluded, and participation is lower in smaller workplaces. 5 With relatively high levels of participation (a detailed study found that 64% of potential electors voted in 2015 6) and the vast majority of votes going to union candidates (see below), on this measure, unions have much greater support than the level of union density would indicate.

There are two main trade union confederations in Spain at national level, CCOO and the UGT, although there are also other union bodies which play an important role.

CCOO and the UGT have broadly similar levels of membership and support in works council elections. The two confederations come from different political traditions (see Political position) but are able to work together successfully. They are also the only "most representative unions" at national level – a status which depends on having at least 10% of the representatives chosen in works council elections at national level. This gives them formal rights in collective bargaining but also means that they are the dominant union negotiating partners with the government and the employers at national level.

The CCOO reported in January 2025 that it had 1,087,714 members in 2024. 7 In terms of support in works council elections, figures published by the CCOO and not disputed by other confederations, show it had the largest number of representatives elected in the four years to the end of 2023, just as it has in every electoral cycle since 1995. Out of a total of 297,874 representatives elected over this period, it had 104,206 (35.0%). 8

The UGT is very slightly smaller than the CCOO both in terms of membership and support in works council elections. It states on its website that it has 983,521 members (February 2025), 9 and in terms of the elections to works councils in the four years to the end of 2023 it had 96,452 elected representatives, 32.4% of the total. 10

Although these two confederations dominate at national level, there are other important union groupings, which together organise around a million members (third of total trade union membership) and have the support of around a third of voters in works council elections. These unions fall into three groups:

• national confederations, which compete directly with CCOO and the UGT across Spain;
• regional confederations, which operate in some regions; and
• individual unions or union federations, which organise in specific sectors, industries or occupations.

The three national confederations operating across Spain in competition with CCOO and UGT are USO, CGT and CNT.

USO, which emerged in opposition to the Franco regime at the end of the 1950s, is the largest of the three, reporting a membership of at the end of 2023 of 136,079. 11 It had 11,904 elected delegates in the works council election up to the end of 2023, 4.0% of the total. 12

The CGT emerged from a split in the anarchist CNT in 1979 and took the name CGT a decade later. It was reported to have 102,874 members in 2018, 13 and has 5,887 elected delegates (2.0% of the total). 14

The CNT, which has continued to exist since the split, is reported to have only 8,000 members. 15 There are no figures on the number of the CNT’s elected delegates, as the CNT does not participate in works council elections. 16

The trade union groupings with a regional base reflect these regions’ demands for greater autonomy or independence. Although nationally these unions only obtained around 6% % of the delegates in the period to 2023, in the regions in which they operate the three largest regional unions have more support than the two main national confederations.

The Basque nationalist ELA is the strongest confederation in the Basque Country by a considerable margin, in terms of its vote in works council elections. In the elections to the end of 2022, ELA won 41.0% of the total in the Basque Country, more than double the number of the CCOO, with 18.6% of elected delegates and even further ahead of the UGT, on 10.7%. 17

In fact, the second strongest union confederation in the Basque Country, in terms of elected representatives, is LAB, which is close to those demanding complete independence. It had 19.6% of the elected works council members in the Basque Country. 18 Because they have at least 15% of the delegates elected at regional level, ELA and LAB both have the status of "most representative unions" in the Basque Country. The ELA website states that ELA had 100,925 members in August 2021. 19 The LAB website states LAB has 45,000 and in 2023 was reported to have 47,742. 20

In Galicia in the north-west of Spain, the Galician union confederation, CIG, is the largest union grouping, in terms of representation, with 5,131 elected representatives (31% of the total). This puts it ahead of the UGT, in second place with 4,248 (26%), and CCOO, in third place with 4,142 (25.0%). Like ELA and LAB in the Basque Country, with more than 15% of the elected delegates in Galicia, CIG has “most representative union” status in the region. 21 CIG does not publish figures on membership, but it is reported to have more than 75,000. 22

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Individual unions

As well as regional union bodies, there are also unions which only operate in specific sectors, industries or occupations.

The most important is CSIF in public administration. In the four years to 2023, it had 11,167 elected representatives, which calculated across the whole economy, was 3.7% of the total. 23 but amounts to a much higher percentage in public administration. Figures on the election of representatives in central government (known as AGE) in 2023 show that CSIF representatives were the largest grouping by a substantial margin. CSIF won 30.8% of the total vote, ahead of both the UGT (21.8% and CCOO (18.9%). 24 After several years of growth, CSIF’s membership was reported to have reached 192,655 in 2018, and is now likely to be higher. 25

However, CSIF is by no means the only union body to have an influential role in specific industries. In retail and associated industries, FETICO negotiates alongside CCOO and the UGT, together with another union body FASGA. FETICO reports that in 2023 it had 74,000 members, and the CCOO’s figures show that it has 6,535 elected representatives (2.2% of the total) across the whole economy in the period to the end of 2023. 26

In health, there is a separate union, SATSE, which organises nurses and physiotherapists, with more than 130,000 members. 27 It works together with a union for teachers, ANPE, which states that it has more than 80,000 members, 28 in a federation for unions in education and health, FSES. There is also a separate union FSIE. for those working in private education and providing care to people with disabilities. It won 5,932 delegates (2.0% of the total) in the cycle of works council election until the end of 2023. 29

There are also many other smaller unions outside the main confederations. They include: SEPLA, the pilots’ union, STAVLA, a union for flight attendants, SEMAF, a union for train drivers, FITC, a union for bank staff, TAMPM, a union for prison officers, CCP, a union for managers and senior professionals, and FEDECA, a union for senior employees in public administration. Although they are relatively small nationally, these unions can be much more significant in individual companies or organisations.

The two main confederations are structured on an industry basis with separate federations for different industries, and in both CCOO and the UGT number of federations has fallen in recent years, as the result of mergers.

In line with the plan of action approved at its congress in 2013, the CCOO reduced the number of its federations and now has only seven, including one for retired members. 30 All manufacturing industry, for example, is now covered by a single federation, Federación de Industria de CCOO, and the federation covering services for citizens (Federación de Servicios a la Ciudadanía de CCOO) includes members working in public administration, along with transport, telecommunications, television and graphic arts and journalism.

The situation is similar in the UGT. It only has six federations, and, with one each for agricultural workers, retired members and the self-employed, almost the whole of the economy is covered by three federations, one for public administration, health and education (UGT Servicios Públicos), one for other services, including transport (FeSMC UGT), and one for manufacturing, construction and energy (UGT FICA). 31

In both CCOO and the UGT, these federations are better seen as sections of the main confederations rather than autonomous bodies. Spanish trade unionists are more likely to see themselves primarily as members of the UGT or CCOO than their industry federation.

Both CCOO and the UGT also have regional structures, which correspond to the country’s regional boundaries, and play an important role.

The main regional confederations, ELA, LAB and CIG, as well as the two main confederations two main national competitors, USO and CGT, are also structured into industry federations.

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Political position

Historically the two main confederations had different political links – with the socialist party (PSOE) for UGT and with the communist party (PCE) for CCOO. However, a 2018 study for the ETUI suggests that these political and ideological differences are today “only minor” and that both are broadly social democratic organisations. 32 The political situation has also changed with PSOE and Sumar (a coalition of left-wing groups, which developed with the involvement of Izquierda Unida, which was itself created with the involvement of the PCE) governing together.

Relations between the two main confederations are normally good, although subject to certain tensions. They have reached a series of joint agreements with the employers providing a framework for annual pay increases and the structure of industrial relations in Spain (see Collective bargaining). They also both signed an agreement with the government but without the support of the employers on a reduction in working time to 37.5 hours a week in December 2024. 33

USO emphasises on its website that it is independent of political parties, although it also makes clear the principles of international solidarity which it supports. The CGT defines itself as “anarcho-syndicalist”.

The Basque and Galician confederations, ELA, LAB and CIG, are politically aligned to calls for greater autonomy or in some cases independence for their communities.

The occupational and industrially based unions outside the main confederations place great emphasis on their political independence.

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Legal framework

The key legislation on the rights of trade unions in Spain is the Organic Law on Trade Union Freedom, passed in 1985 and subsequently amended. 34

This sets out the right of all workers, other than member of the armed forces, similar armed bodies and judges to join unions to promote and defend their economic and social interests. Self-employed workers without employees are specifically permitted to join unions and the legislation also gives unions freedom to determine their own statutes and rules.

However, in many ways, the most important element of this legislation is the third section, which deal with unions’ representative status and the rights that come with that status.

A union’s representative status depends on the proportion of votes it obtain in elections to works councils (the elected representatives of employees in the private sector) and corresponding bodies in the public sector. At national level a union (in practice the confederation) must get 10% of the votes, to be classed as "most representative unions". In the autonomous regions, like the Basque Country, Galicia or Catalonia, the threshold is 15%.

Most representative unions have a range of rights and are the key bodies with whom the government has to consult and negotiate. They also have specific rights in collective bargaining. Unions that have obtained 10% of the votes in a more limited area, either geographical or sectoral, have more limited rights.

Nationally only the CCOO and UGT have most representative unions status. ELA/STV and LAB also have this status in the Basque Country and CIG in Galicia, although their rights are limited to these areas. In addition, the public service union CSIF has most representative union status in public administration.

As well as dealing with representative status, the Organic Law on Trade Union Freedom covers trade union action, setting out their rights to representation at the workplace (see Workplace representation) and provides protection against anti-union conduct.

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Membership trends

Trade union membership in Spain was rising before the economic crisis in 2008, with official figures from the Quality of Working Life survey showing that the proportion of trade unionists among those in work increased from 15.8% in 2007 to 17.4% in 2008. It then fell slightly to 17.2% in 2009 and 16.4% in 2010, the last year these figures were published. 35 Figures from the two main union confederations after this date indicate a further fall in their membership from 2.38 million in 2010 to 1.84 million in 2015. Since then, their membership has increased, rising to 2.07 million by 2024, although it is still lower than in 2010 (see Union density and structure). The 12.5% increase in the membership of the two confederations between 2015 and 2024, is also only half the increase in the number of employees in Spain, which went up by 24.0% over the same period. 36

Similar figures are not available for the smaller union groupings, but figures from some of them indicate a growth in recent years.

Both main confederations have emphasised the need to increase affiliation. The CCOO, in the document to be presented to its 2025 conference points to the need to “turn our strengths into organisational muscle by gaining membership and representation. 37 And the UGT, in a document for its congress in 2021 described “encouraging membership” as a priority for the union. 38

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Women

There are no official figures later than 2010 on the proportion of men and women who are union members. The 2010 figures from the Quality of Working Life survey showed that 17.8% of men in employment were in a union, compared with 14.8% of women. 39 Figures submitted to the unions themselves to the ETUC’s annual gender audit show that, in 2019,44.1% of CCOO’s membership was women, 36.8% of the UGT’s, 40.0% of USO’s and 45.2% of ELA’s. 40

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Negotiations take place at national, industry and company level in Spain, with a national agreement generally providing a framework for lower-level bargaining. The overall level of coverage of collective bargaining is high at around 80% of employees. 41

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Collective bargaining coverage and structures

Collective bargaining coverage in Spain is high. The Ministry of Labour and Social Economy calculates that in 2024 more than nine out of ten employees (92.09%) potentially covered by collective bargaining were covered. 42 The OECD/AIAS ICTWSS database, looking at the situation a few years earlier in 2018, estimated coverage to be 80.1%. 43

Negotiations between employers and unions take place at three levels: national, industry and company/organisation, although, below national level, the structure is complex and overlapping.

National level negotiations, involving the government, unions and employers (sometimes all three, sometimes only two parties) have played a key role in determining pay, working conditions and key elements of labour market policy since the 1980s. They have produced agreements on specific issues, like training, social security, health and safety and gender equality, and, in most years since 2002, guidelines on pay increases for lower-level negotiators.

Examples of national-level agreements on specific issues signed since 2017 include: an agreement on training to improve digital skills in April 2018; an agreement on employment protection during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020; an agreement on remote working (teletrabajo) in September 2020; an agreement on conflict resolution in November 2020; an agreement on collective bargaining and the labour market (see Trends in collective bargaining) in December 2021, an agreement on social security contributions for the self-employed in July 2022, and an agreement on a national health and safety strategy in February 2023. 44 These agreements are frequently followed by legislation implementing their provisions.

However, tripartite negotiations are not always successful. This was the case, for example, in the negotiations over pensions in 2023, which failed to produce an agreement between all three parties, although the government later reached agreement with the unions alone, which led to legislation. 45 The situation appears similar to the government’s attempts to agree a general reduction in working time to 37.5 hours a week, where after months of negotiations, the employers withdrew from the talks in November 2024. This was followed by an agreement between the government and the unions, which the government hopes will lead to legislation in 2025. 46

The pattern of tripartite negotiations breaking down and being followed by an agreement just between the government and the unions is also found in negotiations on the minimum wage (see Minimum wage), particularly in recent years, when a more left-wing government has been more sympathetic to union demands. The last time the national minimum wage was set through an agreement involving the government, the unions and the employers was in January 2020, setting the rate for that year. Since then, the minimum wage has been agreed between the government and the unions alone. 47

National level talks also play a crucial role in producing recommendations on the level of pay increases to be agreed by lower-level negotiators, although here only the unions and the employers are involved. These agreements typically last three years and have been a feature of Spanish industrial relations since 2002. However, there were gaps in 2009 and 2017, and, after the 2018 deal lapsed in 2020, there was no deal until the most recent one (the fifth) signed in May 2023, which lasts until the end of 2025.

This agreement, known by its Spanish initials as the AENC, provided for a 4.0% increase in 2023, and a 3.0% increase in both 2024 and 2025, plus an additional inflation-linked increase each year of up to 1%. Like its predecessors, the most recent agreement also contains a range of other recommendations, covering areas such as qualifications and training, equality, violence, working from home and digital changes. 48

The recommendations agreed between unions and employers at national level do not have any legally binding force. However, figures on pay settlements concluded by lower-level negotiators indicate that, in relation to pay, they are generally observed.

These lower-level agreements must all be registered with the authorities, and figures produced by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy show that, although most agreements are signed at company level, nine out of 10 employees are covered by agreements for their sector or industry signed at provincial, regional or national level.

In 2022, there were 5,045 collective agreements registered as affecting pay in that year, covering 12.8 million employees (see Table). More than three quarters of these agreements, 3,867 or 76.7% were signed at the level of a single company but they only covered 850,000 employees, 6.6% of all those covered by collective bargaining. Another 111 were signed for groups of companies, covering 2.6% of all employees. At the other end of the scale, there were just 92 national industry deals (1.8% of all agreements), but they covered 4.3 million employees, a third (33.2%) of the total. In the middle were provincial agreements accounting for a seventh of the agreements registered (13.7%) but a third (34%) of the employees, and regional level agreements, making up 5.6% of the agreements registered but almost a quarter (23.4%) of employees. 49 These proportions have remained broadly constant in recent years.

Collective agreements in effect in 2022

Level	Agreements		Employees
	Number	%age	Number	%age
Industry
national	92	1.8%	4,266,093	33.2%
regional	283	5.6%	3,003,219	23.4%
provincial	692	13.7%	4,398,669	34.2%
Company
groups of companies	111	2.2%	331,201	2.6%
single companies	3,867	76.7%	850,376	6.6%
Total	5,045	100.0%	12,849,588	100.0%

Source: Estadística de Convenios Colectivos de Trabajo: 2022 Datos Definitivos CCT-II.2 (percentages calculated) https://www.mites.gob.es/estadisticas/cct/cct22def/cct_2022_def.xls

The general pattern is that large and medium sized companies have their own agreements, sometimes at plant level, while smaller employers are covered by provincial agreements for their industry. In addition, some industries, like construction, banking and chemicals have national agreements. Collective agreements are binding on all employers and employees in the areas that they cover, providing they have been agreed by unions and employers or employers’ associations with the right to sign them (see Who negotiates?).

Changes introduced in 2022, following legislation agreed at the end of 2021, mean that company collective agreements can no longer set worse terms and conditions than those applying in industry-level agreements (at whatever level). (This was possible in almost all areas, including basic pay, under legislation introduced by the previous right-wing government in 2012). 50

The 2022 legislation limits the areas where company agreements can alter the terms of industry-level agreements to:

• additional payments for overtime or shift work;
• working time arrangements, including shifts and annual holiday planning;
• adapting grading structures to the needs of the company;
• measures to improve work-life balance; and
• other issues as agreed by the most representative unions and employers’ associations at national or regional level.

In other areas the industry-level agreement will have priority, provided it is more favourable to the employees.

The structure was made more complex by legislation introduced in 2024 giving precedence to agreements signed at regional level over agreements signed at national level in certain circumstances. 51 However, this only applies if they are supported by a majority of union and employer representatives in the body agreeing them at regional level and, taken as a whole, they are more favourable to the employees than the national agreement.

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Variations in collective bargaining coverage

The statistics produce by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy on overall collective bargaining coverage, also include information on its coverage by industry, and the percentages covered are universally high: 95.3% in agriculture, 97.5% in industry, 98.5% in construction and 90.4% in services. 52 The Spanish system of provincial agreements for particular industries means that even in an area, like hotels, restaurants and catering, where in other countries collective bargaining coverage is often low, in Spain it is very high at 98.9%.

Other than domestic work, where only 5.9% are covered by a collective agreement, the lowest level of collective bargaining coverage is for public administration, defence and obligatory social security, at 61.9%.

These figures exclude civil servants (funcionarios), whose terms and conditions are negotiated under different arrangements, which were strengthened in 2015.

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Extending agreements

The government has powers to extend collective agreements in areas where negotiations have not taken place, and these were strengthened in 2005. The request must be submitted to the most representative unions and employers and then to the Comisión Consultiva Nacional de Convenios Colectivos (National Consultative Commission on Collective Agreements), a tripartite body. However, a study in 2011 concluded that the extension of agreements in this way played an “increasingly marginal role” in Spanish industrial relations, with no agreements at all being extended in 2010. 53 There is no evidence that this has changed.

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Allowing local variations

Where a company faces difficulties, which can be economic, technical, organisational or linked to production, it is able, subject to certain conditions – see below, to suspend many of the key agreed terms and conditions of the collective government that applies to it. The areas covered by this suspension can include pay systems and the level of pay, working time, shift systems, ways of working and limits on employees’ functional flexibility for employees. 54

Where the employer wishes to suspend parts of the agreement, it must inform the employee representatives (essentially the unions), setting out its intention to do so, the extent of the suspension, the reasons for doing so and a date for the start of consultations between the employer and the representatives.

These consultations can last up to 15 days and, if the two sides fail to agree, the issue is referred to a joint body, with equal representation from unions and employers, for a decision. This decision, which can be taken either by the body itself or an independent arbitrator it appoints, must be reached within 25 days of the issue being referred to the referred to the joint body.

This ability to suspend parts of the collective agreement is not widely used. Figures produced by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy show that since 2020 there have been between 500 and 600 cases a year affecting between 20,000 and 30,000 employees annually. This compares with 12.9 million covered by collective agreements in 2022. 55

In 2023, the latest year for which full year figures are available, there were 573 cases covering 26,257 employees, with a majority of cases (62%) involving a change in amount of pay. In most cases (90%) the issue was resolved at company level during the consultation period rather than being referred to a higher body. 56

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Who negotiates?

Collective agreements are legally binding on all employees in the area they cover, provided the negotiating parties are entitled to sign the agreement (although some of the terms can be suspended in times of economic difficulty – see Allowing local variations).

At the company and plant level the appropriate negotiating bodies are the employer and the works council (comité de la empresa) the elected employee representative body (see Workplace representation), although union sections at company level can sign agreements, if they hold a majority of seats on the works council. At higher level – provincial, regional and national – the only trade unions who can sign the agreement on behalf of all the employees in the industry concerned are union bodies which are affiliated to the "most representative unions" at national or regional level (if it is a regional or provincial agreement) or other unions which can demonstrate a specific level of support in the area covered by the negotiations. This level is set at 10% of the members of the works councils in the geographical and industrial area covered by the agreement

The status of "most representative union" depends on support in the works council elections. At national level a confederation must get 10% of the votes, while in the autonomous regions the threshold is 15%. Nationally only the CCOO and UGT are "most representative unions". ELA/STV and LAB also have this status in the Basque Country and CIG in Galicia. In addition, the public service union CSIF has most representative union status in public administration. Figures from the ministry of labour show that both CCOO and the UGT play a role in almost all negotiations. In 2023, CCOO signed agreements covering 96.6% of all employees affected by collective bargaining and for the UGT the figure was 97.4%. All other unions were involved in agreements covering 48.6% or all employees. 57 The figures do not add up to 100.0% as most negotiations, whether at company of higher level, involve representatives from several unions.

The law lays down specific rules as to how negotiations are to be conducted and the composition of both sides. It also states that negotiations must be carried on in "good faith".

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Industrial action

In Spain, the right to strike is guaranteed by the Constitution, adopted in 1978, which states in article 28 (2): “The right of workers to strike in defence of their interests is recognised. The law regulating the exercise of this right shall establish the guarantees necessary to ensure the maintenance of essential community services”.

The key legal instruments governing the right to strike are the Royal Decree Law 17 of 1977, 58 which was adopted before the Constitution, and the judgement of the Constitutional Tribunal of April 1981. 59

Strikes can be called by trade unions, by works councils (see Workplace representation), or by workers themselves in a vote. There is no requirement for a vote by the workforce for strikes called by trade unions or works councils, although, where the works council calls a strike, 75% of the members must be present at the meeting taking that decision.

There is a requirement to provide five days’ advance notice, and 10 days if essential public services are affected. Notice must be provided to the employer, or the employer’s representatives if it is an industry-wide dispute, and to the appropriate labour authority. A strike is run by a strike committee of no more than 12 members chosen from those on strike.

The Constitution, while guaranteeing the right to strike, recognises the need to regulate this right so that essential community services can be maintained. However, this has not been legally developed since the adoption of the Constitution in 1978, and its regulation is set out in the Constitutional Court ruling of April 1981, which gives the appropriate government authority the right to take necessary measures to ensure the operation of essential services. The legislation does not define what essential services are, or the measures that should be taken to maintain them. As a result, the rules have been set in a series of decisions by the Constitutional Tribunal.

These decisions have produced several broad principles in determining minimum service levels:

• minimum service levels need to reflect a compromise between the right of workers to strike and the damage to citizens and constitutionally protected rights;
• the public or private ownership of the entity providing the services is irrelevant;
• in looking at the areas to be protected the authorities must consider those that affect fundamental rights and public liberties; and
• the services normally seen as essential by the court cover transport, health, radio, television and broadcasting, telecommunications education, parliamentary activity, public administration, the administration of justice and municipal administration. 60

The Constitutional Tribunal also made clear in 1986 that the minimum service level implies “undertaking the work necessary for the minimum coverage of the rights, freedoms or goods that the service itself satisfies, but without reaching the usual level of performance". 61

The Ministry of Labour and Social Economy publishes detailed statistics on strikes. Other than during the pandemic, when there were fewer strikes, in the years from 2017 to 2023, there were between 600 and 900 strikes each year, involving between 170,000 and 295,000 employees (339,000 in 2018). The number of days lost varied between 389,000 and 988,000. 62 (These figures do not include general strikes.)

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Length and timing of agreements

There is no legislation setting either a minimum or a maximum period for the length of collective agreements. This is left to the negotiating parties to determine. In practice agreements normally last between one and three years, with three years being the most typical length, and some last even longer.

Agreements continue in force after they expire, unless one of the parties states that they wish to reject its terms – to denounce it. Where an agreement has been denounced, and no agreement has been reached after a year, the parties must agree to a process of mediation.

(Reintroducing the ongoing validity of agreements after they expire was one of the changes covered by legislation passed in December 2021 (see Collective bargaining coverage and structures). Between 2012 and 2022, the period of ongoing validity was limited to one year.)

Agreements almost invariably start from 1 January. But typically, negotiations do not begin until later in the year when the inflation figures are available and often drag on for months. The terms are normally then backdated to the start of the agreement.

Subjects covered in agreements

The national agreements covering the whole economy deal with non-pay issues such as training, equality and remote working, and since 2002 have, in a series of three-year deals, set broad guidelines on pay increases.

Legislation sets out several formal issues that must be covered in lower-level agreements, such as, establishing the parties to the agreement, its functional and geographical coverage and how long it lasts, but beyond that, agreements signed at industry and company level cover a wide range of topics.

Figures from the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy show the extent to which the following topics were covered in the agreements signed in 2023:

• 94.5% of agreements dealt with pay structures;
• 91.6% included clauses on additional payments, such as payments related to long service or night work;
• 84.0% included details of job classification;
• 50.7% included clauses covering pension arrangements;
• 39.5% covered training; and
• 16.9% dealt with home working (teletrabajo). 63

Companies with 50 or more employees are also required to draw up and implement a gender equality plan, which much be negotiated with the employee representatives. Since January 2025, and the passing of new legislation, 64 these plans must also include a section dealing with LGBT employees.

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Trends in collective bargaining

The official figures on collective bargaining coverage show a slight increase in recent years rising annually in small increments from 91.2% in 2021 to 92.1% in 2024. 65 Equivalent figures for earlier years are not published.

The increases in coverage in the early 2020s follow the changes in industrial relations legislation passed at the end of 2021 and implemented in 2022. They reversed an earlier set of measures, known as the labour reform (reforma laboral) introduced in 2011 and much strengthened in 2012, which gave company-level agreements precedence over industry-level agreements as well as making it easier for employers to suspend their terms.

Although there is some evidence that that the 2012 changes had a more limited impact than feared, 66 the political climate for negotiations at all levels became more favourable after 2020, following a change of government.

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Minimum wage

Spain has a national minimum wage which is normally uprated in January. This is set annually by the government after consultation with most representative trade unions and employers associations, and the legislation (Estatuto de los trabajadores Art 27) states that the government should take the consumer price index, increases in national productivity, labour’s share in national income and the general economic situation into account. In practice, some increases have been implemented following national agreements between unions and employers. However, this has not always occurred, and since the tripartite agreement in 2020, the minimum wage has been agreed between the government and the unions alone.

To assist the government in its decision-making, since 2020 an Advisory Commission (Comisión Asesora) has been asked each year to prepare a report calculating the monetary value of 60% of average earnings and to recommend the best way, first to reach this target for the minimum wage, and later to maintain it at this level. 67

The minimum wage is set as a monthly amount, but it is paid 14 times a year (with extra payments at Christmas and in the summer). To calculate the monthly payment on the same basis as other countries, the amount must be multiplied by 14 and divided by 12.

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Joint employer/ union body at national level

In addition to collective bargaining between unions and employers, there is also a national consultative body, the Economic and Social Council (CES) made up of equal numbers of representatives of the employers, the unions and other groups (representing agriculture, fishing, consumers, cooperatives plus experts). It is consulted on proposed legislation on socio-economic and employment issues, and it can draw up its own proposals and reports. The 20 union representatives consist of nine each from the two most representative union confederations (CCOO and UGT) and one each from Basque confederation ELA and the Galician confederation CIG. 68

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Elected works councils are the main channel of workplace representation for employees in Spain, although the law also gives a specific role to the unions at the workplace and in larger workplaces the trade union delegate may be the key figure. The works councils themselves are dominated by the unions and, as well as having information and consultation rights, they also bargain on pay and conditions at company level.

The basic structure

Workplace representation in Spain has a clear legal framework, provided in the main by the 1980 Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores, Articles 61-76) and the 1985 Law on Trade Union Freedom (Ley Orgánica de Libertad Sindical).

The law provides for both workplace union structures and elected representatives of the whole workforce.

Trade union members have the right to form a trade union section (sección sindical) for their union in the workplace, which has specific rights. In addition, in workplaces with 250 or more employees, union members can elect a trade union delegate who also has a number of rights.

There is a right to choose elected representatives with clear roles and rights in all but the smallest companies, and there are comparable structures in public administration provided in the (Law of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee (Ley del Estatuto Básico del Empleado Público Articles 39-46).

The extent of workplace representation

A high proportion of workplaces appear to exercise their right to elect employee representatives. A survey, based on workplace elections in the four years to the end of 2015, found that while only 21.2% of workplaces with six or more employees – the threshold for employee elections – had employee representation, the companies with representation employed 63.7% of the workers in companies of this size. 69 The same study also found that participation in the elections is also substantial – of the 6.56 million entitled to vote, 3.73 million did so (64%)

Another indication of the relatively high level of employee representation at the workplace is provided by the results of Eurofound’s 2019 European Company Survey. This shows that, in 2019, 40% of establishments in Spain with at least 10 employees had some form of official employee representation – a workplace union organisation, a works council or a comparable body in public administration or an employee delegate. This was well above the EU27 average of 29%. 70

As elsewhere in Europe, larger organisations are more likely to have such a structure than smaller ones. The 2019 survey shows that 86% of establishments with more than 250 employees had representation, and that in those with between 50 and 249 employees, the percentage of workplaces with representation was 57%. In smaller workplaces in Spain, those with between 10 and 49 employees, the survey indicates that just over a third (36%) had employee representation.

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The role of unions

Formally the workplace representation structure of elected employee delegates and works councils does not depend on union involvement, but, in practice, the unions play a central role. The vast majority of elected representatives are proposed by the unions and more than two thirds of them come from the CCOO and the UGT.

Spanish trade unions also have separate legally recognised structures within the workplace with a range of legal rights. These trade union sections bring together all the members of a particular union in the workplace. In addition, in larger workplaces, where union members can elect a trade union delegate, they may have a key role in relations with the employer.

Numbers and structure

The right to elect employee representatives begins in workplaces with more than 10 employees and they can be elected in workplaces with as few as six people if a majority of employees want this. Where there are fewer than 50 employees, the representatives are called employee delegates (delegados de personal). If there are 50 or more employees, then the representatives are elected as members of a works council ((comité de empresa). There is no difference in terms of rights and duties between the employee delegates and the works council.

The calculation of number of workers needed to access these rights is done on a headcount basis. In other words, part-time workers count the same as full-time workers. Specific rules apply to workers on temporary contracts (found widely in Spain). Temporary workers who have been with the company for more than a year count in full, in the same way as those on permanent contracts. For those with shorter periods of service the numbers are calculated by counting the total number of employee days worked by these temporary employees, with each 200 days or part thereof considered as an additional employee. Members of senior management and agency workers are not included in the calculations.

Employees in several workplaces in a single company, which together have more than 50 employees but separately have fewer, can set up a joint works council, provided the workplaces are in a single province or in neighbouring municipalities.

The number of representatives in relation to the number employed is set out in the Table.

Number of representatives in relation to employees

Number employed	Number of representatives	Name of representative
6-30	1	employee delegates ______________________
31-49	3
50-100	5	works council members
101-250	9
251-500	13
501-750	17
751-1000	21

Thereafter the number of representatives increases by two for every additional 1,000 employees up to a maximum of 75.

The provisions covering the number of employees and the number of employee representatives is exactly the same in public administration. However, in public administration the body equivalent to the works council is called a personnel board (junta de personal).

The works council (like the personnel board in public administration) is a purely employee body. There are no members representing the employer. It is elected in at least two groups, one by the manual and the other by the non-manual workers, and it is legally possible to set up an unspecified third group for separate election if laid down in the collective agreements.

There are no thresholds in relation to trade union sections. They bring together all the union members in the union concerned in the workplace. In workplaces with 250 or more employees, trade union sections with representatives on the works council are entitled to elect a trade union delegate, with specific rights (see Unions). In workplaces with 250 or more but up to 750 employees, they have a single trade union delegate, but this increases with the number employed, provided the union has at least 10% of the votes in the works council election, going up to two, where there are between 751 and 2,000 employees, three for between 2,001 and 5,000 employees, and four where there are more than 5,000 employees.

In addition, because there is normally more than one union in a workplace, there will normally be more than one union delegate in workplaces with 250 or more employees.

Operation

Once elected the works council sets its own rules of procedure, for its meetings and actions. But the works council must elect from its members a secretary and a chair. Normally the chair comes from the union with the largest number of members on the works council and the secretary from the next biggest union. The works council must also meet at least once every two months and works council decisions should be taken by a majority of its members not simply the majority of those present at its meetings. The works council can also set up sub-committees on a range of issues.

The internal procedures and activities of the trade union section, which consists of all the members of that union in the workplace, are governed by the rules of the unions. For example, the rules of the CCOO state that trade union sections should "function democratically and reach decisions on a majority basis".

Election and term of office

Nominations are made on the basis of lists for all members of the works council, either by the unions or by groups of individual employees provided that the number supporting a list is three times larger than the number of places to be filled. Candidates must be employees of the company (so excluding agency workers), be aged over 18 and have at least six months’ service. Members of senior management cannot stand for election to the works council

The works council is elected on the proportion of votes which each list receives, eliminating those getting less than 5% of the votes. All employees (again not agency workers), other than senior management, can vote, provided they have at least one’ month’s service. There is a detailed procedure for monitoring the results of the elections with disputes, in the end, being referred to the labour courts.

The 2016 study into employee representation, referred to above, found that, despite a long-term increase in the number of women elected, a clear majority (59.9%) of employee representatives elected in the four years to the end of 2015 were men, and that almost half (45.8%) the representatives were aged 35 to 49, with 29.6% aged 50 or over and 11.1% younger than 34. 71 Later figures for the period up to the end of 2023, just for CCOO, show that 56.4% of its representatives were men and 43.6% were women.

The 2016 study also shows that almost all (97.5%) of the representatives are nominated by unions, although the individuals concerned may not always be union members.

Elections for works councils and employee delegates take place every four years.

Trade union delegates are elected by the trade union members in the company in line with the rules of the union.

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Tasks and rights

Works council

The tasks and rights of the works council cover information and consultation, the monitoring of the application of certain labour regulations, and, in some cases, the control of social facilities at the workplace. However, it has no powers to prevent management acting as it wishes in the final instance. In addition, unlike works councils in some other European states, works councils in Spain are directly involved in collective bargaining if it takes place at company level. Employee delegates, acting jointly, have the same rights as the works council

The works council has a general right to be informed and consulted by the employer on those issues that may affect the workers, as well as on the company’s and developments relating to employment in the company. Being informed means being given information by the employer in a way that allows the works council to examine the issue concerned, while being consulted means an exchange of opinions and the opening of a dialogue and, in some cases the works council producing a report on the issue. The works council and employer should act in “a spirit of cooperation”, considering both the “interests of the company and those of the workers”.

The works council has the right to be informed every three months:

• on the general evolution of the economic sector in which the company is operating;
• on the economic situation of the company and the recent and likely development of its activities, including environmental actions that have a direct impact on employment, as well as on production and sales, including the production programme;
• about the employer's forecasts for the appointment of new staff, including the type of employment contracts to be used, possible additional hours for those working part time and information on subcontracting; and
• on the rate of absenteeism and its causes, accidents at work and occupational diseases and their consequences, accident rates, studies on the environment at work and the hazard prevention mechanisms in use.

It also has the right to annual information on the position of women and men in the company in relation to equal treatment and equal opportunities This includes:

• access to the pay register with information on all aspects of pay, broken down by sex;
• the pay audit that companies with more than 50 employees must now carry out;
• data on the proportion of women and men at different grades;
• the measures that have been adopted to promote equality between women and men in the company; and,
• if there is an equality plan, how it has been implemented.

The works council must also, at the appropriate time:

• be provided with details of the company’s balance sheet, income statement and annual report, plus, where the company has shareholders or partners, receive the documents that shareholders or partners are given;
• be made aware of the types of employment contract the company uses as well as the documents relating to dismissals;
• be informed of all penalties imposed for gross misconduct.

The works council also has a right to receive copies of employment contracts as well as notification of the extensions and terminations within 10 days of their taking place.

The works council has the right to be informed and consulted on the situation and structure of employment in the company or in the workplace, as well as to be informed quarterly about the likely changes in employment, with consultation when changes are expected.

It has the right to be informed and consulted on all company decisions that might result in changes in the way work is organised and employment contracts. It also has the right to be informed and consulted on any potential counter measures, especially if there is a risk to employment.

There are six specific issues where the works council has a right to produce a report prior to the employer implementing the proposal. The works council must be given appropriate information on the issue and, if it wishes to produce a report in response to the employer’s proposals, it must do so within 15 days. There should be an opportunity for the employer and works council to meet and, if possible, reach agreement. The issues covered by this obligation are:

• workforce restructuring, and the total or partial dismissal of the workforce, whether temporary or permanent;
• reductions in working hours;
• the total or partial transfer of facilities;
• mergers, acquisitions, or changes in the legal status of the company that might affect employment levels;
• the company’s occupational training plans; and
• the implementation and revision of systems relating to work organisation and monitoring, time and motion studies, setting up bonus and incentive schemes, and job evaluation.

The works council also has a duty to monitor

• that the employer is complying with employment and social security legislation;
• conditions in relation to health and safety; and
• the application or the principle of equal treatment between men and women, particularly in the area of pay.

Works councils also participate in the control of social facilities at the workplace, such as canteens or social clubs, where this is provided for in collective agreements.

The works council is also called on to work with the management to improve productivity to promote conciliation measures and to inform those it represents of issues which might affect industrial relations.

In addition to these points, which are set out in Article 64 of the Workers’ Statute, employee representatives also have a right

• to receive a copy of the standard employment contract (Article 8);
• to be consulted on transfers to other locations, when a significant percentage of the workforce is affected (normally 10% or 30 workers, whichever is smaller) (Article 40);
• to be consulted when the employer plans major changes in working conditions and significant percentage of the workforce is affected (normally 10% or 30 workers, whichever is smaller) (Article 41);
• to be informed on plans to subcontract services and work (Article 42);
• to be informed about any transfer of ownership and to be consulted if this transfer may have an impact on the workforce (Article 44);
• to be consulted about any temporary suspension of work or reduction in working time caused by short-term technical or economic difficulties (Article 45);
• to be consulted about large-scale redundancies (normally 10% of the workforce or 30 workers, whichever is smaller) (Article 51).

In addition, a worker may request the presence of an employee representative when signing a document stating that an employment contract is officially ended (Article 49).

However, for many works councils, their most important power is that they can negotiate binding collective agreements covering pay and conditions in their company, or part of their company (see Collective bargaining). The composition of the works councils is also crucial in determining who has the right to reach collective agreements at industry level.

The rights of employee representatives in public administration are similar but much more limited.

Unions

The trade union sections have a role both within the workplace and outside it. Inside they are a forum for discussing and promoting union policies in the workplace, as well as ensuring the payment of union subscriptions and their rights include holding meetings, collecting contributions and distributing trade union material. Outside the workplace the union sections play a part in the decision-making structures of the union.

A key task for the trade union section is to back its union's candidates in the works council elections and discuss the policies the works council should pursue.

In smaller workplaces the key union figures will be elected members of the works council. In larger workplaces – those with more than 250 employees – the key union influence on the works council may come through the trade union delegate. He or she represents the trade union directly with speaking but not voting rights on the works council. He or she also has rights to receive the same information as works council members.

Trade union delegates also have the right to be heard by the employer before action is taken against workers in general and their own union members in particular, especially where there is a possibility that union members may be dismissed. They are thus in a stronger position than the works council as the employer is only required to inform it after the event.

Trade union delegates can also conduct collective bargaining provided they have a majority on the works council. Overall, the relationship between the trade union sections and the works council varies depending on the strength of the union in the workplace.

Protection against dismissal

Work council members, as well as employee delegates, who have the same role in smaller companies, have explicit protection against dismissal, disciplinary action or discrimination because of the exercise of their functions. 72

Works council members and trade union delegates must also be given priority in keeping their jobs where employees are being dismissed for economic or technical reasons. In effect, they must be the last people in this group of employees to be made redundant (Article 68.b of the Workers’ Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores)).

This does not mean that works council members and employee delegates may not be dismissed for misconduct, and Article 68.c) makes specific reference to this possibility, quoting Article 54 which sets out possible reasons for misconduct dismissals. These include, repeated lateness or absence, disobedience, abuse, a breach of good faith, a continued failure to work as contracted, repeated drunkenness and sexual and other harassment.

However, where misconduct is alleged by the employer and a works council member or employee delegate is to be disciplined or dismissed, there must be a disciplinary hearing with specific procedures. This involves the employer setting out the reasons for the proposed action to the employee concerned and the works council, or the other employee delegates, and to the union if the individual is a union member (Article 55.1). They then have a period to respond to the allegations, generally only between three and five days, although a collective agreement may impose a longer time limit.

If the employer continues with the dismissal, the employee concerned has the right, within 20 working days to take the issue to court. If the dismissal is found to be unfair the employee has the right to choose between reinstatement and compensation, calculated on the basis of 33 days’ pay for each year of service. (This is not the situation in other unfair dismissal cases, where the employer decides whether the individual will be reinstated or compensated.) The employee is also entitled to be paid from the date of dismissal to the date when the case is resolved (Article 58).

These protections continue for 12 months after leaving office (Article 68.c)). They also apply to individuals who have been elected but not yet taken office, and to candidates for these posts, but, if they are not elected, only for as long as the election lasts.

Trade union delegates have the same employment protection as members of the works council if they are not themselves members.

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Time off and other resources

Works council members and employee delegates are legally entitled to paid time off for their duties. The law lays down the following scale for each member of the works council / employee delegate:

Time off rights

Number of employees	Paid time off a month (hours)
Up to 100	15
101 to 250	20
251 to 500	30
501 to 750	35
above 750	40

The rules are exactly the same for employee representatives in public administration.

These amounts can also be improved in collective agreements and their distribution between various members of the works council can also be altered. In 2022, agreements, covering 43% of all employees, whose deals were signed in that year, included provisions for employee representatives that were superior to the legal minimum levels, and agreements covering 76% of employees allowed a redistribution of time off. 73

In practice in large workplaces, these time-off rights are often used to allow key members of the union to devote themselves entirely to union matters off site. Many of the leading figures in union structures at both regional and local level are still company employees.

In addition, the employer is obliged to provide the works council with an adequate room as well as notice boards for its use. In most cases the union locally also has the right to have a notice board and, if the workplace employs more than 250, an adequate room for its activities. Collective agreements can improve on these basic provisions.

Trade union delegates have a right to paid time off on the same basis as works council members.

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Training rights

Employee representatives have no statutory right to time off for training. However, part of their overall paid time off, which, depending on the number of employees, ranges from 15 to 40 hours per works council member per month, can be used for training (Ley del Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers’ Statute) Article 68). 74

There are also examples of agreements which include rights to a specific period of additional time off to attend union courses. 75

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Representation at group level

A group works council (comité intercentros), bringing together several works councils in the same company is possible but only where this is provided for in collective agreements. The maximum number of members of this group works council is 13 and distribution of its membership between the unions must match the results of the elections in the works councils involved, taken as a whole. Its powers are those laid down by the collective agreement and it may not exceed them. The existence of a group works council does not remove the necessity for setting up individual works councils in every workplace with at least 50 employees.

Group works councils are relatively common in larger companies. There were only 67 company-level agreements signed in 2022, which provided for a group works council, but they covered 117,326 workers, more than a third (35%) of all workers covered by company-level agreements, signed in that year. 76

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There is no overall right to employee board-level representation. However, there are employee representatives on the boards of at least eight state-owned companies. 77

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The extent of board-level employee representation

Although the 1978 Spanish Constitution (Article 129.2) includes a statement that “the public authorities shall efficiently promote the various forms of participation within companies and shall encourage cooperative societies by means of appropriate legislation” there is no general statutory right for workers to have representation at the level of the board (consejo de administración).

However, an agreement signed at national level in January 1986 between the UGT, one of Spain’s two most representative union confederations (see Trade unions) and the government, represented a step towards employee board-level representation in the public sector. The agreement provided either for minority union representation on the boards of public sector companies with more than 1,000 employees or for the establishment of monitoring and information committees with equal representation of the unions and employers. 78

The choice between the two options was left to company-level negotiations, and, where the board level, option was chosen, the two most representative unions, the CCOO and the UGT, were able to nominate one member each.

In June 1993, the framework agreement, signed between the metal working federations of CCOO and the UGT and INI-TENEO, the state industrial holding company, covered its subsidiaries in the metal sector with at least 500 employees. 79

However, many of the state-owned companies covered by these measures have ceased to exist. INI-TENEO was dissolved in 1996, and its holdings were passed on to a new company SEPI, which disposed of most of them. Currently SEPI holds majority stakes in 14 companies. Of these, only four have trade union representation on their boards. 80 These are Navantia (shipbuilding), ENSA (nuclear and heavy engineering components), HUNOSA (energy and mining) and TRAGSA (rural development). In each case there are two trade union members out of a total of between 10 to 15 board members. In addition, other state-owned companies in non-industrial groups keep one or two union representatives on their boards as a result of the 1986 agreement. These are Paradores (hospitality), ADIF (high speed transport), RENFE (railways) and ENAIRE (air traffic control).

In two other areas, employees have lost their right to representation at board level in recent years.

One is in local mutual savings banks (cajas de ahorros), where employee representatives had a clearly established right to be present on the boards of with 5% of the seats. 81 However, the banking crisis in 2012 and the subsequent scandals at some local savings banks led to new legislation in 2013, under which employees lost their right to board representation. 82

In any case, local mutual savings banks have essentially ceased to exist following the restructuring of the sector. The two main financial institutions that emerged from the local savings banks, CaixaBank and Bankia, merged in December 2020. 83 There are no employee representatives on the board of the new body, which is a commercial bank and retains the name CaixaBank.

The second case where board-level employee representation has been lost is the Spanish state TV and radio company RTVE. Under legislation passed in 2006, CCOO and UGT each had a member on the board. 84 However, the right to reserved seats for the unions was removed in legislation passed in 2017. 85

This trend may be reversed, as the Spanish government is aiming to do more to implement Article129.2 of the Constitution, relating to employee participation. In 2025 it set up a group of experts to look at ways in which democracy at work could be developed drawing on existing models in Germany, Austria and the Nordic states, which all have employee representation at board level. The labour minister stated at the time that “without democracy at work, democracy is incomplete”. 86

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Nomination and election of employee representatives

The agreement with INI-TENEO, now SEPI, provides that unions with at least 25% of the members of the works council have a right to a seat on the board. If only one union has more than 25% of the works council seats, it has the right to two seats. The agreement does not set out how the union representatives are to be chosen, stating only that their appointment and removal are decided by the unions and should be conducted “in line with normal procedures”. 87

At the end of December 2024, three of the four SEPI companies with board-level employee representation, ENSA, HUNOSA and TRAGSA, had a board member from both UGT and CCOO. In the fourth, Navantia, one came from CCOO and the other from the public sector federation CSIF. In the others, Paradores and ADIF have board level representatives from both CCOO and UGT, while in RENFE (in 2023) there was one board-level representative from CCOO and the UGT plus one from the train drivers’ union SEMAF. 88 The situation in ENAIRE is unclear.

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The rights of employee representatives

As set out in the INI-TENEO agreement, the trade union board members in the four companies with board-level employee representation have the same rights and duties as other board members.

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.

European Works Councils

Spanish members of the special negotiating body (SNB) of an EWC are appointed by majority decision of the union bodies which together form a majority in the works council or works councils or – where appropriate – the employee delegates, or they are appointed with the support of a majority in these bodies. 89 In 2001 an agreement was reached between CCOO and UGT, establishing that they would take turns to share seats in EWCs. 90

The procedure is the same for members of an EWC set up under the fallback procedure, but in this case the individuals appointed must be employees of the company.

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European Company

Spanish members of the special negotiating body (SNB) of a European Company are appointed by majority decision of the union bodies which together form a majority in the works council or works councils or – where appropriate – the employee delegates, or they are appointed with the support of a majority in these bodies. 91 The legislation goes on to state that the choice of members must be proportional to the votes which each union has received in the elections to the works councils or for employee delegates in the workplaces involved. The individuals chosen can either be employees or external union representatives.

The procedure is the same for members of the SE representative body set up under the fallback procedure, but in this case the individuals appointed must be employees of the company and be either members of the works council, employee delegates or trade union delegates.

The same rules apply to representatives from Spain taking seats on the board of a company under the fallback provisions in the annex and here again they must be employees.

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Health and safety representatives in Spain should be present in all companies and workplaces employing more than five people. They are chosen by and from among the existing employee representatives. They have substantial consultation rights, and in larger companies (50 or more employees) they work with the employer in health and safety committees.

Employee health and safety bodies

Where there are six or more employees, health and safety representation is provided through special health and safety representatives, known as prevention delegates (delegados de prevención), chosen from among the existing employee representatives. In larger companies or workplaces (50 or more employees) there is also a joint employee/employer health and safety committee (Comité de Seguridad y Salud).

Numbers and structure

Employees are entitled to participate in health and safety issues and once there are six or more employees, either in the company or the workplace, this participation is through specially designated health and safety representatives, known as prevention delegates. The number of these prevention delegates increases with the number employed (see Table).

Number of prevention delegates in relation to employees

Number of employees	Prevention delegates
6 to 49	1
50 to 100	2
101 to 500	3
501 to 1,000	4
1,001 to 2,000	5
2,001 to 3,000	6
3,001 to 4,000	7
More than 4,000	8

In addition, in all companies or workplaces with 50 or more employees, a health and safety committee should be set up. This consists of the prevention delegates and an equal number of representatives of the employer. Also participating in the meeting of the health and safety committee are the trade union delegate or delegates (one or more employees representing the union in companies with more than 250 employees) and the health and safety professionals employed by the company. Both groups can speak at the meetings, but they do not have a vote. The health and safety professionals are not included in the headcount of employer representatives.

In companies with several separate workplaces, it is possible to set up a joint health and safety committee covering them all. However, this depends on the employer reaching an agreement with the workforce and the agreement also determines the powers of this joint committee.

Research by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in 2019 found that 49% of workplaces in Spain had health and safety representatives (prevention delegates) and 18% had a health and safety committee. These are both slightly below the EU27 averages for the same period, which were 56% for health and safety representatives and 22% for health and safety committees. (The figures are for workplaces with five or more employees.) 92

National figures for the proportion of workplaces with prevention delegates are lower at 27.5% in 2019. 93

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Tasks and rights

The basic principle is that employees have a right to participate in health and safety issues and that, once there are six or more employees, this is done through the prevention delegates (and the health and safety committee in bigger companies).

The main tasks of the prevention delegates are:

• to work with management to improve action on risk prevention;
• to promote and encourage employees’ cooperation in applying health and safety regulations;
• to monitor compliance with health and safety regulations; and
• to be consulted by the employer in advance about the following issues:
  • work organisation and planning in the company, including the introduction of new technology and its health and safety impact;
  • the organisation of health and safety and risk prevention measures in the company, including the appointment of health and safety professionals or the use of an external health and safety agency;
  • the designation of employees responsible for reacting to emergencies;
  • the provision of health and safety information to employees; and
  • employees’ health and safety training.

What is meant under the consultation referred to above is that the employer must give the prevention delegates a period of 15 days to respond to proposals, unless a shorter period is necessary to prevent an imminent risk. If the employer decides to reject the prevention delegates’ proposals, he or she must provide grounds for this rejection.

To enable prevention delegates to carry out these tasks, prevention delegates have the right:

• to accompany health and safety professionals carrying out risk assessments as well as labour inspectors monitoring health and safety compliance – the prevention delegates can point out concerns to the inspectors in the course of their visits;
• to have access to the appropriate documentation about working conditions;
• to be informed by the employer about workers’ injuries or ill health and to examine the place where these have occurred;
• to receive information from the health and safety professionals employed by the employer;
• to visit workplaces and talk to employees;
• to encourage management to take preventative measures and improve health and safety arrangements;
• to propose to the employee representatives that they agree to order a halt to work to avoid a serious and imminent danger. (It is the main employee representatives, rather than the prevention delegates who have normally the right actually to halt work – see below.)

The joint health and safety committee also has a range of tasks and rights, and where there is no health and safety committee, these tasks and rights fall to the prevention delegates.

The tasks are to:

• participate in the drawing up, implementation and evaluation of risk prevention measures, involving looking at the choice of measures, the activities of external agencies contracted by the company for health and safety, work organisation, new technologies and protective equipment; and
• promote initiatives for effective risk prevention making proposals for improvement and to remedy failings.

The rights are to:

• have direct knowledge of the risk prevention situation in the company, through appropriate workplace visits;
• have knowledge of all the necessary documents about working conditions and health and safety activities in the company;
• know about and to analyse any negative impacts on workers’ health in order to establish the causes and make proposals to avoid them; and
• be given the annual report and proposals for action produced by the health and safety professionals in the company.

The legislation makes plain that the health and safety structures (prevention delegates and health and safety committees) do not remove the right of the existing structures of employee representation – the employee delegates (delegados de personal), the works council and the union representatives – to defend the interests of the employees in the area of risk prevention. As a result, it is these structures that normally have the right to halt work in cases of imminent and serious risk. If work is halted in this way the employer and the health and safety authorities must be informed immediately and the authorities have 24 hours to either confirm or lift the suspension of work. (Only if the existing structures of employee representation cannot be brought together quickly enough, can a majority of prevention delegates agree to halt work.)

Both the health and safety structures and the existing structures of employee representation have particular rights with regard to the health and safety authorities. They can call on the authorities if they consider that the employer’s efforts in health and safety are insufficient. The prevention delegates and the health and safety committee (or existing representatives if the health and safety representatives are not present) should be informed of inspections by the health and safety authorities, so that they can accompany the inspectors, and they should also be given the results of these inspections.

Frequency of meetings

The health and safety committee meets every three months as well as when either side requests a meeting.

Election and term of office

In companies with up to 30 employees, the existing employee delegate is also the prevention delegate. In companies with between 31 and 49 employees the existing employee delegates (there should be three) choose one of their number to be the prevention delegate. In larger companies or workplaces, the prevention delegates are chosen by and from among the works council members (companies and workplaces with more than 50 employees have employee-only works councils rather than employee delegates) and the trade union delegates (representatives of the union in companies with more than 250 employees).

Where there are no employee delegates or works council, the employees should elect a prevention delegate directly.

The period of office of employee delegates and works council members and therefore of prevention delegates is four years.

Resources, time off and training

Prevention delegates should use some of the time they are given for the other positions they hold as employee representatives for their health and safety work. By law, employee delegates and works council members get a set number of hours for their duties, although collective agreements can improve on this. The number rises as the size of the workforce increases, as follows: up to 100 workers – each delegate or member gets 15 hours a month; 101 to 250 workers – 20 hours a month; 251 to 500 – 30 hours; 501 to 750 – 35 hours; and above 750 – 40 hours a month.

However, the legislation also makes clear that meetings of the health and safety committee and site inspections should not count against this total.

Prevention delegates should also receive the training and the means necessary to carry out their tasks. This training should be paid for by the employer and should take place during working time.

Protection against dismissal

As prevention delegates also hold other representative positions, they benefit from the protection against dismissal that these provide (see Protection against dismissal). They have priority in keeping their jobs where employees are being dismissed for economic or technical reasons; they cannot be dismissed as a result of exercising their rights; and they cannot be punished for allegedly serious misconduct without the works council having a right to make its case to the employer.

Other elements of workplace health and safety

The legislation allows employers to choose between four ways of dealing with their health and safety responsibilities, in part depending on the number of employees involved. They can undertake them themselves, choose one or more employees to carry them out, establish an internal health and safety prevention service, or make use of external specialist companies.

Employers can only undertake health and safety tasks themselves if they have 25 or fewer employees (10 in more dangerous industries) and have the appropriate skills and knowledge. If employees are chosen to undertake health and safety responsibilities, they must also be appropriately qualified and have sufficient time and resources to carry out the health and safety tasks they have been given. At the other end of the spectrum, larger employers, those with more than 500 employees (250 in dangerous industries), must establish their own internal health and safety prevention service, including appropriately qualified experts.

In practice, the vast majority of employers use the services of external experts. The national health and safety management survey in 2019 found that nine out of 10 employers (89.4%) used an external prevention service. The other ways of dealing with an employer’s health and safety responsibilities were used much less frequently: 14.4% gave health and safety duties to one or more employees; 8.1% undertook the responsibilities themselves; 5.4% had an internal health and safety service; 3.3% used a health and safety service shared with a relatively small number other companies, for example in the local area; and 0.9%, almost all very small, did nothing. As it is possible to combine several methods, the figures add up to more than 100.0%. 94

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National context

The ministry responsible for health and safety at work is the Ministry of Employment and Social Economy (Ministerio de Trabajo y Economía Social) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Instituto Nacional de Seguridad, Salud y Bienestar en el Trabajo – INSSBT, formerly the INSHT) has prime responsibility for promoting health and safety at work. The Inspectorate of Labour and Social Security (Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, ITSS) ensures compliance with health and safety legislation, as well as with more general labour and social security regulations.

Trade unions and employers have a guaranteed role in health and safety at national level through their membership of the National Commission for Safety and Health at Work (Comisión Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, CNSST). It has a total of 76 members, with 19 each coming from central government, regional government, the employers and the unions, and it is intended to have a key role in formulating and developing health and safety policy. 95

There is no specific Spanish legislation on psychosocial risks, but, in its guide on the topic the Spanish labour inspectorate (ITSS) states they are implicitly included in the main Spanish health and safety law, the Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks. 96

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Key legislation

Law 31/1995: Prevention of Occupational Risks, 8 November 1995

Ley 31/1995, de 8 de noviembre: Prevención de riesgos laborales

Royal Decree 39/1997, approving the regulation of prevention services, 17 January 1997

Real Decreto 39/1997, de 17 de enero, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de los Servicios de Prevención.