Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Spain (Ratification: 1970)

1. The Committee notes with interest the full and detailed report provided by the Government for the period ending June 1998. The Committee notes that the recovery in employment growth which it noted in its previous observation has been maintained for the period in question with the result that unemployment rates are continuing their downward trend and should, according to the OECD, fall below 20 per cent in 1998, compared to 23.2 per cent in 1995. The labour market trends described by the Government show encouraging developments, such as the continued increase in the number of workers offered contracts of employment without limit of time; however, other aspects of unemployment continue to give cause for concern, in particular the situation of women, whose unemployment rate is double that of men, of unemployed persons under the age of 30, who account for more than half the total number of the unemployed, the persistently very high rate of long-term unemployment and the high concentration of unemployment in certain regions.

2. The Committee notes the important labour market reforms decided on the basis of the Employment Stability Agreement concluded in April 1997 between employers' and workers' organizations. The Committee notes in particular that in order to reduce the number of fixed-term employment contracts, a new type of contract without limit of time combined with a reduction in the level of compensation to be paid in the event of unjustified dismissal, has been introduced for a four-year period for workers under temporary contracts and groups of the population who are experiencing particular difficulties, such as young persons, women, the long-term unemployed and workers over the age of 45. The regulations applicable to insertion and training contracts for young persons have been changed in order to provide better safeguards to the beneficiaries of these contracts. The Committee notes that these measures have been decided following dialogue with the social partners and on the basis of a critical evaluation of the results obtained from the previous measures, and it requests the Government to provide detailed information on the application of these new provisions and their impact in terms of the effective and lasting integration of those concerned into employment.

3. In response to the Committee's request on the manner in which the employment policy falls "within the framework of a coordinated economic and social policy" (Article 2 of the Convention), the Government emphasizes that creating employment is the central objective of its general economic policy and the various sectoral policies which it is implementing in accordance with the guidelines issued by the extraordinary European Council on Employment, held in Luxembourg in 1997. The Government states that its commitment to the European Union project for economic and monetary union has enabled it to re-establish the necessary balance for the creation of employment. In addition to its policy to reduce inflation, interest rates and the budget deficit and to deregulate markets, the Government describes a series of sectoral measures to promote the competitiveness of the economy. With reference to the Job Creation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Recommendation, 1998 (No. 189), the Government indicates that measures to facilitate financing and investment in these enterprises are an integral part of its employment policy. The Government also describes the manner in which the new national occupational training programme, established under the tripartite agreements of December 1996, ensures greater harmonization of initial and further training with prospective employment opportunities, in particular by establishing a national system of qualifications.

4. The Committee hopes that, in the macroeconomic context described by the Government and as a result of the reforms that it is implementing in consultation with the social partners, the Government will be in a position to provide information in its next report on a continued improvement in the employment situation and a significant reduction in the unemployment rate, which remains very high.