Spain: Consolidation of labour law

On 23 October 2015, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved Legislative Royal Decree 2/2015, of 23 October, which approves the amended Spanish Workers' Statute. The Royal Decree is fully in force to the extent that it brings together provisions that are already fully applicable.

The amended Workers' Statute has kept its previous structure of 92 articles; all legal changes that have been made in recent years have been included at the end in the form of 21 additional provisions and 12 transitional provisions, as well as two final provisions related to competencies and regulatory implementation.

The new amended Workers' Statute primarily includes:

• The labour reform of 2012 (Royal Decree Law 3/2012 and Law 3/2012), which added internal flexibility to employment relationships; it modified the process by which to carry out collective layoffs (removing the requirement to seek administrative authorisation) and changed the system of priority in the application of collective bargaining agreements with the aim of stimulating employment and employment relationships, among other aspects;
• Royal Decree Law 11/2013, which modified the regulation governing negotiation commissions representing the workers during consultation periods in the context of collective layoffs and measures to foster internal flexibility;
• Royal Decree Law 16/2013, which reformed part-time employment contracts.

Impact for employers

Since the previous amended Workers' Statute was published in 1995, it had been modified on more than 50 occasions, the changes made in recent years being particularly significant. It was therefore necessary to consolidate into a single text all the developments and changes that had been made, thus providing the general population with access to a single, comprehensive, and systematic provision