Spain: focus on continuous and discontinuous partial unemployment

Mandatory consultation and administrative authorization. When circumstances arise which lead to a temporary reduction in work, employers may file a petition for authorization of lay-off. Any lay-off must be authorized by the Labor Authority; otherwise no unemployment allowance would be paid to the laid-off employees. The administrative authorization is required both for lay-offs of a very short duration (typically a few days) and for longer lay-offs (several months, for instance). The authorization must be obtained regardless of the number of employees concerned by the measure. The lay-off procedure requires that the employer file a petition for authorization with the Labor Authority and simultaneously initiate a consultation period with employee representatives (works councils or trade unions). During the consultation period, which must last at least fifteen days, the company and the employee representatives must discuss the reasons for the lay-off and the possibility of avoiding or reducing their negative effects on the employees, with a view to reaching an agreement. Whether or not an agreement is reached, the employer must notify the Labor Authority the outcome of the consultation period. If there has been an agreement, the Labor Authority will generally issue a resolution authorizing the lay-off in the agreed terms. Otherwise, the Authority will issue a resolution approving or rejecting the employer’s petition: it will be approved if the employer submits evidence of the existence of the legal causes for the lay-off (economic, technical, etc. or force majeure). The legal causes are exactly the same as in collective dismissals: the only difference is that in lay-offs it is expected that the cause should be removed in a short delay, while in dismissals there is no such expectation.