International employment law: key insights from Spain

In the final podcast of our short series on “5 things you should know about Employment Law in ….” Barry Stanton discusses 5 key issues in Spanish Employment law with Juan Carlos Lombardia of Bartolome & Briones.

Understanding Spanish employment law can be a challenging task, particularly for companies outside Spain. With increasingly stringent regulations and evolving compliance requirements, staying on top of labour obligations is crucial for businesses.

In this episode, we discuss:

1. Some of the implications surrounding mandatory working time registration. Loopholes in the system create challenges for legal certainty and we discuss a recent decision highlighting the costly consequences of non-compliance when a company an employer was not able to defeat a claim for overtime because of poor record keeping.
2. Obligations in relation to equality plans and salary audits, which require businesses employing 50 or more to address gender disparities and conduct salary audits alongside mandatory salary registration. These processes require collaboration with trade unions or employee representatives, making them time-consuming and prone to misunderstandings. Companies must comply with these obligations carefully to comply with the law and avoid potential discrimination claims.
3. We discuss the implementation of changes to whistleblowing Obligations in Spain and how the new requirements need to be managed, and the obligations placed on employers to create clear procedures whilst some regulatory aspects still remain unclear.
4. Spain has strengthened its anti-discrimination protection: we discuss some of the implications arising from this legislation and also upcoming regulations on reasonable adjustments for permanently disabled employees which require proactive measures from employers to avoid accusations of discrimination.
5. We discuss issues arising in relation to Employer of Record (EOR) and Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and the steps employers need to take to ensure they stay on the right side of the law.

Employment law in Spain requires careful attention to compliance and adaptability to new regulations.  Should you require support and assistance with employment issues in Spain or be considering establishing a business in Spain please get in touch. We hope the podcast is useful and informative.