Rules on staff representation

Representation of workers in companies

Workers’ rights to collective representation are regulated in the Spanish Workers’ Statute (ET), Title II .

The elected representative bodies at a company are:

• Staff Delegates: at companies with 10 to 50 workers ( Article 62 ET ).
• Works Council: at companies with more than 50 workers ( Article 63 ET ).

They must be informed and consulted regarding all events included in Article 64 of the ET .

The procedure for electing worker representatives is regulated ( Article 67 et seq. of the ET ).

Elections can be promoted by:

• the most representative union organisations, or
• union organisations with 10% or more of the representatives at a company, or
• workers in a workplace by majority agreement.

The following is applicable:

• Electors: all workers of a company or workplace who are over 16 years of age and who have been working at a company at least 1 month.
• Eligible persons: workers who are at least 18 years of age and who have been at a company at least 6 months are eligible, barring those activities in which, due to staff mobility, a shorter period is agreed on in a collective bargaining agreement (with a minimum limit of three months of seniority).
• Foreign workers: foreign workers can be electors and eligible persons under equal conditions with all other workers.

Staff delegates and members of works councils act in such capacities for 4 years and until the next elections.

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Right to form and become a member of trade unions

The right to organise, which is included in the Spanish Constitution (CE), means that ‘everyone has the right to freely join a trade union’ ( Article 28(1) CE ).

This right is regulated in Organic Law 11/1985 of 2 August on the Right to Organise (LOLS) .

Exercising trade union activity ( Art. 2 LOLS ) includes the following: the right to collective bargaining, to strike, to raise individual and collective labour disputes and to present candidacies for the election of Works Councils and Staff Delegates and for the corresponding bodies of Public Administrations.

In accordance with Article 8 LOLS , workers who are affiliated with a trade union at their company or workplace can:

• Establish Union Sections according to the by-laws of the Trade Union.
• Hold meetings (subject to notifying the employer), collect duties and distribute union information, outside of work hours and without disturbing the normal activity of the company.
• Receive the information sent to them by their trade union.

Worker representatives enjoy a series of guarantees, whether they are staff delegates, members of works councils or union delegates (included in Art. 68 ET and in Art. 10.3 of the LOLS):

• The opening of a contradictory proceeding in penalty proceedings.
• Priority for remaining at a company or workplace that is in suspension or winding up for technological or economic reasons.
• Not being dismissed or penalised during the exercise of their duties or within one year following the end of their term of office.
• Freely expressing their opinions within the sphere of their representation, and they may publish or distribute publications during work hours.
• Having remunerated monthly time-off rights.

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Violations of the rights of representatives

The Labour and Social Security Inspectorate is in charge of ensuring respect for the rights of worker representatives.

Infringements in this area (which are included in Articles 7 and 8 of the Law on Violations and Penalties of Social Order ) refer to matters such as the following:

• Breaches of the right to information, the right to be heard and the right of consultation of worker representatives and union delegates.
• A breach of the rights of worker representatives and of union sections regarding the remunerated time-off rights and having adequate premises for carrying out their activities, as well as having bulletin boards.
• A violation of the rights of union sections related to the collection of dues or the distribution and receipt of union information.
• Actions or omissions that prevent the exercise of the right to meet of workers, of their representatives or of union sections.
• A violation of the right to attend and access workplaces by those who hold provincial, regional or state elected positions in the most representative union organisations.
• A breach of the material duties of collaboration that are imposed upon employer by regulations on the electoral processes of worker representatives.
• Unilateral decisions of a company that involve discriminations, whether direct or indirect, unfavourable, etc.

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More information

More information on the EURES page about worker representation in Spain.

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Information for each Autonomous Community

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