Durán López, Jessica

Social partners in Spain have still not concluded the Agreement for Employment and Social Dialogue that should have been renewed by the end of 2014.

Increased powers for the Spanish Labour Inspectorate are proposed in a draft bill which also calls for more involvement from the social partners.

Changes have been made to the Spanish system of vocational training without the agreement of the social partners.

The number of Spanish companies applying flexibility measures to working time and pay tripled between 2012 and 2013

The number of open-ended contracts in Spain has increased by more than 17% in the past year.

Experts acknowledge the success of Spanish measures to encourage self-employment, but argue that many unemployed people have decided to set up their own businesses only because they cannot find a job, and that necessity-driven new businesses have lower survival rates. They say entrepreneurship should be supported with long-term measures adapted to entrepreneurs’ actual needs.

The 2013–2014 annual report providing data on the Spanish university system focuses on the graduates of the 2005–2006 academic year, describing their subsequent labour market situation, including unemployment rates, self-employment, type of contract, income and mobility. In general, the data show that working conditions improve after a few years of work experience.

During the last few decades, public administration workers have been subject to a number of structural, modernising reforms, in a framework often designated as ‘new public management’. The current economic and financial crisis has also meant that the steep rise in public debt has prompted many authorities to try to reduce public expenditure by introducing freezes and reductions in pay and employment for civil servants. This report sets out to provide an overview of the main causes and reasons for change in central public administration in the European member states plus Norway. It also looks at the impact these changes have had on the sector's working conditions, as well as exploring how this situation is expected to evolve.

In April 2013, the Spanish Self-Employed Federation (ATA [1]) published a report on the Spanish labour market focusing on the effects of the economic crisis on self-employment from a gender perspective. It compared the proportions of men and women registered as self-employed. [1] http://www.ata.es/

This country study gives an overview of labour market policy in community-based care for adults with disabilities and chronic health problems in Spain. The main topics discussed are the context in which labour market measures in community care are implemented, the funding structure, the strategies used to recruit new employees and retain current workers in the sector, and the resulting impacts and outcomes of these strategies. Three case studies (see Annex 1) were carried out on initiatives in the area of labour market policies in community-based care to support adults with disabilities: professionalism certificates, the Independent Life Programme and SSI Group.