Mercadona develops innovative employment practices

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The 'employment model' developed by the Mercadona retail group stands out in the Spanish context. It combines relatively good employment conditions with working conditions that are highly demanding. The company's employment practices seek to focus on customers and promote 'total quality'. This article provides a brief case study of Mercadona in early 2005

Mercadona is a 100% Spanish company that operates in 43 provinces of 14 autonomous communities with a network of 875 supermarkets, according to the figures provided by the company. In 2004 it had the highest turnover of all Spanish supermarkets. It has a workforce of 51,000 persons, of whom 66% are women with an average age of 30.

Employment conditions

The workforce are employed from the start of their labour relationship on permanent contracts, a practically unique feature in a country that is a leader in temporary employment. Other similar companies, such as El Corte Inglés, Eroski and Carrefour, reportedly tend to maintain their workers in a situation of considerable instability. Mercadona has therefore gained a great deal of good publicity because of its stable labour policy.

The basic net starting pay for workers of Mercadona is 12 monthly payments of EUR 900. With four years of seniority, the guaranteed minimum is 12 monthly payments of EUR 1,200. The pay policy is therefore better than that of the rest of the sector.

The company provides an average of 60 hours of training per worker per year. All the executives of the company were trained in the company.

According to the newspaper El País, the company has even extended the four months of maternity leave established by law to five months. However, according to the workers, the granting of this additional month is discretionary for the company. If the workers request it they lose the productivity bonus for the current year and the pay rise of the following year.

The workplace in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Barcelona, opened a nursery in 2001 offering free services (care, meals, etc.) for the children of the workers. Similar workplaces in San Isidro, Alicante and Húevar, Seville have offered nursery services since 2003 and 2004 respectively. The three workplaces have recruited 42 educators to look after 150 children.

Critics allege that the company is not very favourable to trade unions, particularly the line followed by the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CCOO) and the National Confederation of Labour (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, CNT), or to personal claims brought by workers with regard to their rights under collective agreements. Acccording to researchers, the company promotes 'company trade union' lists (Mercadona independiente) in the trade union elections and has good relations with the General Workers’ Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT), which follows a moderate and pragmatic policy in this company.

Working conditions

Though Mercadona offers its workforce good employment conditions, its work process is highly demanding, according to researchers, with the aim of providing quality of service to customers. This strategy, based on a stable employment model with fair basic wages, has achieved the commitment and fidelity of the employees and has led to good economic results and the expansion of the company in the market, it is reported.

Another way of ensuring the fidelity of the employees and reducing the risk of them arriving late is to recruit persons who live no more than 10 minutes' walk away from the workplace.

Since January 2004 the supermarkets have not opened on Sundays, even in tourist resorts. However, workers claim that they are often asked to do overtime by the coordinator, and if they refuse they may receive a less favourable treatment in the future.

At Mercadona, promotion is achieved through assessment of a series of parameters by coordinators, who use their own judgement. If the workers pass this assessment, they move up to a higher wage bracket. If not, even if their performance has not fallen, their jobs may be threatened.

According to the trade union CNT, which has started a campaign of reporting some alleged practices of abuse and harassment, Mercadona has introduced a system of points (a standard system) that tends to involve a system of selection, leading to the dismissal and annual renewal of a fixed percentage of the workforce and creating a climate of rivalry among the workers.

The system of work is therefore seen by researchers as demanding, and workers are reportedly under the permanent surveillance of the coordinators. The policy is to minimise the number of days off work due to illness, and the company has its own medical staff. Some trade unions have protested about possible abuses of the right to privacy. They also claim that the underlying aim is to reduce time off work to a minimum by adapting the tasks to the condition of the workers rather than allowing them to take sick leave. However, in cases of temporary incapacity the company pays 100%, and is thus more generous than other companies.

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