Equal treatment and non-discrimination

Right to non-discrimination

Workers have the right 

Not to be directly or indirectly discriminated against during recruitment or employment on the following grounds ( Article 4(2)(c) of the Workers’ Statute ):

• sex
• marital status
• age
• racial or ethnic heritage
• social status
• religion or beliefs
• political ideas
• sexual orientation
• sexual identity
• gender expression
• sexual characteristics
• whether or not they are a member of a trade union
• language
• disability status or condition.

Grounds for invalidity

The following are considered null and void ( Article 17 of the Workers’ Statute ):

• Regulatory provisions, clauses in collective agreements, individual agreements and employer decisions that give rise in employment to direct or indirect discrimination on the basis of family ties with people connected with the business, or on any of the grounds set out in the previous paragraph.
• Orders to discriminate and employer decisions that result in the unfavourable treatment of workers in response to a complaint made internally within the business or as an administrative or judicial action aimed at enforcing compliance with the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination will also be considered null and void.
• Failure to comply with the obligation to take protective measures against discrimination and violence directed at LGBTI people ( Article 62(3) of the Law for the full and effective equality of trans persons and for the guarantee of LGBTI rights ) will give rise to an assumption of liability on the part of the employer (Article 62(2)).

Very serious infringements ( Article 8(12) of the Law on social order infringements and sanctions )

Very serious infringements are unilateral decisions by a business that ...

1. Lead to unfavourable (direct or indirect) discrimination, for instance, on the basis of:

• age
• disability
• sex
• origin (including racial or ethnic origin)
• marital status
• social status
• religion or beliefs
• political ideas
• sexual orientation or identity
• gender expression
• sexual characteristics
• language within the Spanish State
• whether or not someone is a member of a trade union or party to a collective agreement
• family ties with other workers;

2. Or that involve unfavourable treatment in retaliation for:

• internal complaints within the company,
• administrative or judicial actions to enforce the right to equal treatment and non-discrimination;

3. Favourably or unfavourably affect working conditions, such as:

• remuneration (salary)
• working hours
• training
• professional advancement
• other working conditions.

What can be done in the event of discrimination as described above?

Any person who has knowledge of any act that involves discrimination as described above should submit a complaint regarding the matter to the offices of the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate.

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Equal pay for men and women

Employers are bound to pay the same wage or non-wage remuneration for providing work of equal value, satisfied directly or indirectly and regardless of the nature thereof, for which there must not be any discrimination on grounds of sex.

A job shall have equal value as another when the nature of the functions or tasks effectively entrusted, the educational, professional or training conditions required for the exercise thereof, the factors strictly related to the performance thereof and the labour conditions under which those activities are carried out in reality are equivalent.

Record of wages

An employer is required to keep a record of the average salary amounts, wage supplements and non-wage benefits of their staff, broken down by sex and by professional group, by professional category or by equal jobs or jobs of equal value.

Employees, through the legal representation of workers at a company, have the right to access their company’s wage record.

When, at a company with fewer than 50 workers, the average remuneration for workers of one sex is greater than that of the other sex by 25% or more, based on the total payroll or the average of benefits paid out, the employer must include in the wage record reasons justifying why that difference is for reasons not related to the sex of the employees.

Failure to comply with these obligations represents a breach of social order, following an investigation and opening of the corresponding penalty proceedings by the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate .

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Equal pay between temporary and permanent employees

Workers with temporary or fixed-term contracts have the same rights as workers with open-ended employment contracts, apart from the specific particulars of each of the contractual arrangements regarding termination of the contract and apart from the particulars that may be expressly provided for by law regarding training contracts. Such rights, whenever applicable considering the nature thereof, will be recognised proportionally in legal and regulatory provisions and in collective bargaining agreements, depending on the time worked (Article 15(6) ET) .

Whenever a certain right or working condition may be attributed in legal or regulatory provisions and in collective bargaining agreements according to the prior seniority of a worker, said seniority must be calculated according to the same criteria for all workers, regardless of their contracting mode.

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Information for each Autonomous Community

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