Staff Management in Spain

One of the key parts of starting business abroad is to evaluate what the cost of the employees on site will be. Many questions can arise from this: how to recruit employees, and particularly how to select them without speaking the language? What type of employment contract is used? What exactly are the employee's rights and those of the entrepreneur himself? This category on our website aims to answer all your questions in relation to recruiting staff in Spain.

Management of your staff in Spain

The unemployment rate in Spain has recently reached 25% making it one of the highest rates in all of Europe. This means a more interesting context for business management in Spain. Its highly qualified and motivated workforce is increasingly cheap allowing easy recruitment. If you are thinking about moving to Barcelona, do be aware that lots of expats live there so you will have no difficulty in finding bilingual employees. Online job forums are popular among job seekers too. There are also many placement agencies that can help you with your search.

Documentation for staff management

If you want to employ someone who is not of Spanish nationality, you must make sure they have an NIE (Foreign Identification Number). If the person is not European, you will need to check they have a work permit for Spain and that it is up-to-date.

Working conditions in Spain

Working conditions are regulated by the Workers' Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores) of 24 March 1995. Collective agreements were made between employers and trade unions for each industry to regulate the conditions of regional work. Warning: these agreements may provide for more favourable working conditions than those granted nationally, but they cannot be less favourable. The minimum wage in Spain is 645.30 Euros for 2013 which is one of the lowest minimum wages in Western Europe. A "reasonable" wage in Spain varies between 900 and 1200 net Euros. The legal number of working hours per week is 40 hours. There are many types of employment contracts such as CDI, CDD, replacement or internship. Moreover, a good alternative are two types of flexible contract: obra y servicio and eventual.

Hiring and Firing in Spain

When you need to hire your first employees, you should keep in mind that business within the working market in Spain mainly takes place in private. Private recruitment sites such as infojobs, eMonster or infoempleo are really effective ways for contacting a large number of jobseekers. Also, consider social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Viadeo and Twitter as platforms for your ads and as a way to reach thousands of active profiles. As for dismissing your employees, the 2012 labour reform enabled companies to be much more flexible in terms of staff management.

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