Spain

Here follows the situation in force about the work Law in march 2004, even if the advent of the Socialist Government after the 14th of March could lead to some remarkable modifications. As a matter of fact, one of the priorities of the Socialist Party’s Electoral Program is to reduce the fixed- term bargaining and encouraging, on the other hand, the open- ended contracts.

The reference work law is the so - called “Estatuto de los Trabajadores”, approved by the King’s Decree – Real Decreto Legislativo - 1/1995. This statute sets the rights of employers and employees, the general conditions of the work contracts, the discharge procedures and the rules of collective bargaining.

Moreover, there are some specific laws concerning particular productive sectors and categories of workers.

Another source of law is the “collective bargaining”, negotiated at the company level or at the national or regional one.