Positive results for Spanish temp deal

Temporary workers in Spain are now finding it easier to gain permanent status thanks to an agreement reached earlier this year by unions, employers and the Spanish government. Government figures published last month show the number becoming permanent has tripled compared to the previous year.

The agreement was signed in May and was implemented by a decree, which came into effect on 1 July. It gives temporary staff who have worked for the same company for 24 months or more over a total of 30 months the automatic right to a permanent contract (see Labour Research, June 2006).

Spain has the highest proportion of temporary workers in the European Union and the agreement came out of a union campaign to regularise their status.

The first figures show that 124,259 employees moved from temporary to permanent contracts in July and August this year, compared to just 41,693 in the same period in 2005.

Both the main union confederations, the CCOO and the UGT, welcomed the news, but both are pushing employers to take more employees on a permanent basis from the start. The CCOO said it is essential to increase the number of initial contracts that are permanent. And the UGT pointed out that 90% of all contracts signed in August were still temporary.