A vision of employment in 2020
In 2015, the European Union promoted and issued a raft of rulings of varying kinds and legal natures which comprised the Guidelines included in the “Europe 2020” strategy.
They involve rulings on matters relating to employment, education and poverty reduction, the criteria for which began to be laid down in Council Decision 2010/707/EU of October 21, 2010.
In the employment sphere, Council Decision 2015/1848 of October 5, 2015, sets out in an annex a series of Guidelines that need to be taken into account and envisaged to ensure that the legislative changes that are implemented in keeping with these Guidelines do not catch companies and organization unawares and lead to a consequent loss in competitiveness.
In particular, the Decision provides that Member States should encourage wage-setting mechanisms allowing for a responsiveness of wages to productivity developments, step up efforts to encourage work-based learning systems and increase employability by investing in human capital. Last but not least, another road map is established with a view to promoting the mobility of workers with the aim of exploiting the full potential of the European labor market.
In view of all the above, it appears unavoidable that, to enter the year 2020 with one’s “homework done”, companies should base their hiring, flexibility and, in short, human resources and employment management policies, on elastic formulas that comply with these guidelines.
The Spanish legal system already contains sufficient regulations to align Spanish companies with the cutting-edge strategies envisaged by the European Union, so it is merely a question of getting to work by, for example, implementing flexible compensation plans through collective bargaining, conducting procedures for the material modification of working conditions, establishing company agreements with preferential application that have regard to the highly unique nature of the company’s organization, designing true equality plans that improve work/life balance, using continued employment bonuses that retain talent, involving workers in business decisions, implementing remote work mechanisms, regulating mobility plans within the workplaces of the same company or various companies of the group at international level, etc.
In short, Spain has the necessary legislative tools to implement measures that will align it with the EU guidelines and place it in a better position in the near future.
Garrigues Labor and Employment Department
