Isusi, Iñigo

This report explores the motivations, opportunities and challenges of born globals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in integrating and managing their global value chains (GVCs). The study also investigates the role of selected policy measures in supporting SME internationalisation, including different types of support in Europe and beyond.

The High Court has ruled that companies no longer need to keep a record of their employees’ daily working time, although they must still record overtime worked. This ruling, confirming an earlier initial ruling, has led to controversy between the social partners and forced the Labour Inspectorate to change its inspection criteria.

An agreement between social partners in the Spanish retail sector will govern working and employment conditions for the next three years. About 260,000 employees are expected to benefit from this agreement, which is likely to set the standards for other sector agreements due to be negotiated during 2017.

Approximately 250,000 temporary employment positions in Spain’s public administration will become permanent in the next three years, after an agreement on the issue was reached by the Spanish Ministry of Finance and Public Function and the major Spanish unions representing public employees. The changes will reduce the share of temporary posts from 20% to 8%.

The inability of the national social partners to agree salary recommendations; digital disconnection after working hours; and the effects of the increase in the minimum wage on employment are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Spain in the first quarter of 2017.

A ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union that temporary and permanent workers in Spain should receive the same severance pay has led to some confusion, with different Spanish courts coming to different decisions in separate cases. There were 3,968,000 temporary employees in Spain in 2016 (26.1% of the total workforce).

The installation of the new government, a joint communiqué from the social partners, salary recommendations for 2017 and proposed reforms of the pension system are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Spain in the fourth quarter of 2016.

A slight fall in unemployment and trade union concerns over labour precariousness, and the need for social partners to reach agreement on a new salary pact are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Spain in the third quarter of 2016.

The use of supplementary employee reward systems has increased across Europe in recent decades, both in terms of the number of companies using them and the number of employees covered. Supplementary reward systems include performance-related pay, profit-sharing, payment by results and benefits in kind. These forms of remuneration can help to motivate and reward workers and to link pay to company results.