New direction for Labour and Social Security Inspectorate

Download article in original language : ES0507102FES.DOC

Following debate on the monitoring of labour regulations, concern was expressed about the lack of resources and staffing, and the limited scope of the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate. The Spanish government has now taken action on this, and though some terms of agreement are still pending definition, a commitment has been made to increase the workforce and possibly to define a new professional statute. However, a large percentage of the inspectors are still dissatisfied.

The Spanish Labour and Social Security Inspectorate (Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, ITSS), which reports to the Assistant Secretary for Work and Social Affairs (Subsecretaria de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales) of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales, MTAS), is the administrative organisation responsible for controlling and monitoring the fulfilment of labour regulations. It is empowered to take administrative action against infringing companies and workers. It also provides advice and information on labour and social security issues.

Role of the ITSS

The ITSS’s main aim is to promote voluntary compliance with labour and social security (Seguridad Social) obligations of companies and workers. Its action is preventative and corrective, but if necessary, it will also apply sanctions.

Its areas of action include industrial relations, including individual and collective, and the protection, rights and guarantees of workers' representatives within companies. It is empowered to inspect, mediate and arbitrate in disputes and strikes, when requested by the parties involved. The area of health and safety at work includes occupational risk prevention and promotes employee health and safety. The area of employment and alienage includes immigration, migratory movements and work of non-nationals, in addition to vocational, occupational and lifelong training, temporary employment and placement agencies. The area of social security inspects registration and membership of the social security system, contributions and collection of contributions, benefits and voluntary improvement systems.

The ITSS employs a team of nationally accredited civil servants, of a high technical level, who belong to the category of labour and social security inspectors (Cuerpo Superior de Inspectores de Trabajo y de Seguridad Social). It operates with technical independence, objectivity and impartiality. The functions of support, collaboration and management, necessary for the inspection, are carried out by civil servants belonging to the category of assistant labour and social security inspectors (Cuerpo de Subinspectores de Empleo y Seguridad Social).

Source: MTAS

Criticisms of the trade unions

The process of improving the staffing and employment conditions has led to some disputes because of its limited nature. The trade unions claimed that the number of civil servants was insufficient, as is shown by the fact that the EU average is one inspector per 7,000 workers, whereas, in Spain, there is one inspector per 21,000 workers. Current staff are therefore unable to carry out 'massive inspection campaigns'.

The main problems detected by the trade unions are as follows:

• In Spain, problems include a high industrial accident rate, a large underground economy and employment market, fraudulent temporary recruitment, discrimination of women at work, poor integration of disabled persons, and immigrant labour. If the labour inspectorate had sufficient resources, it could attempt to deal with these problems. Legislation without the means to enforce compliance is futile. Furthermore, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has not defined a stable and advanced inspection model, and there is little planning for specific campaigns.
• Civil servants receive insufficient legal support in relation to demands arising from the services they provide, and with regard to civil liability.
• Furthermore, over a year ago, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs lowered the pay of the inspectors throughout Spain by more than EUR 200 per month, thus accentuating the unfairness of their pay structure in comparison with other collectives, such as tax inspectors.
• Last but not least, the trade unions demand an improvement in the public inspection service and in the working conditions of inspectors, assistant inspectors and support staff.

Main provisions of the new agreement

A strike was called for 21 June 2005 by the Progressive Union of Employment Inspectors (Unión Progresista de Inspectores de Trabajo, UPIT), and the Union of Labour and Social Security Inspectors (Sindicato de Inspectores de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, SITSS). On 20 June, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs reached an agreement with the UPIT, based on the proposals made by Raimundo Aragón Bombín (Director General of the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate) and including the commitment to increase the number of inspectors by 2,000. The agreement will come into force in January 2006.

The main features of the agreement are:

• A 'strategic plan' for the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate will be drawn up and developed in the course of this legislature. A draft of 'professional statutes' will also be drawn up to establish essential aspects, such as access, promotion, specialisation and the civil service career.
• With regard to legal security, a commitment has been made to assess payment, within the limits of civil liability insurance cover for 2006, of the costs of the 'Ardystil' trial (ES0307204F) of the inspector who was tried as the main person responsible and who is considered to be the 'scapegoat' of the trial.
• The workforce will be increased to 1,000 inspectors and 1,000 assistant inspectors by the end of the legislature, at a rate of 50-60 vacancies per year. Furthermore, as a general average and in most inspections, there will be a ratio of 1.15 support staff to technical staff (inspectors/assistant inspectors).
• Premises of the inspectorates will be adapted through conversion or transfer, so that by the end of the legislature, all inspectors and assistant inspectors will have their own exclusive workplace within the premises of the public administration.

Other proposals in the area of human resources include the following: the creation of an overseeing body composed of group heads, whose task is to plan, monitor and evaluate the action of the Inspectorate; reinforcing the regional offices; bolstering the IT competencies of staff; and establishing objectives and indicators aimed at increasing productivity in accordance with expectations.

The first visible initiative of the agreement is that 300 technical staff joined the 800 inspectors of the labour inspectorate, to collaborate in the prevention of occupational risks, under the authorisation of the autonomous communities. The council of ministers (Consejo de Ministros) has regulated the action of authorised technical staff, with regard to occupational risk prevention as collaborators of the labour and social security inspectorate.

This agreement led to the strike being called off by the UPIT, but not by the SITSS. The strike was supported by a large proportion of the workers (42% of the workforce, 331 of the 782 inspectors), who were not satisfied with the new agreement.

Commentary

The ITSS has been relatively under-used in recent years, largely due to the influence of employers who considered it an instrument that reduced employment flexibility. The change of government, accompanied by a set of proposals and promises to introduce improvements in employment (to curb temporary employment, to improve health and safety at work, to legalise immigration, etc), also required a larger, more active and better prepared inspectorate to deal with the current situation. The government now aims to assign greater importance to this body, although the intervention will be more educational than punitive, in order to achieve the aim of reducing precarious employment. However, there is some disappointment about the cautious