The most recent collective agreements in the metal sector have begun to limit the supplements for Temporary Disability (IT) derived from common illness with the aim of curbing the rise in absenteeism. Each working day, more than 140,000 professionals are absent from their positions out of more than 2.7 million salaried and self-employed workers linked to this activity.
According to a collective bargaining report from Confemetal, absenteeism in the metal sector has increased by 95% since 2021. To contain this escalation, the new agreements are replacing the traditional coverage of 100% of the salary from the first day of leave with formulas that have time limits and economic cuts.
The most common practice is to limit the maximum duration of these business supplements, establishing caps of between 100 and 200 days with full salary. This is the case of the metal industry agreement in Huelva, after which the worker only receives the basic public benefit.
Alongside this, recidivism is penalized, restricting or eliminating the improvements from the second or third leave in the same calendar year. In the metal trade of Burgos, the first leave is covered for 20 days at 100%, the second only for 10 days, and the third no longer has a supplement. In provinces like Alicante, Castellón, or Tenerife, the salary for the first three days of leave from the second absence is reduced to 50% or 60%.
As an additional measure, collective bargaining is promoting bonuses linked to effective presence at work. Exceeding a threshold of monthly or annual absences, whether justified or not, means completely losing this incentive.
In the metal trade agreement of Madrid, the productivity improvement bonus (1.5% of the salary) requires not accumulating more than 8 hours of absence per month. Likewise, in the agreements of Ourense and Jaén, a "effective attendance" bonus is introduced and consolidated, which is extinguished when continuous absences are recorded.
Additionally, several agreements, such as the one in Alicante, state that the leave supplements end when the employment relationship is terminated, preventing them from continuing to be paid after the end of the contract.
In general, the restrictions on receiving 100% do not apply when the IT is due to work accidents or occupational diseases; maternity, paternity, or risks during pregnancy, nor in cases of hospitalization or serious surgical interventions.
Absenteeism has become one of the main concerns of business organizations due to its direct impact on production, shift organization, and the internal climate of companies.
This issue is among the priorities of the CEOE, of which Confemetal is a part, in the negotiation agenda with CCOO and UGT to renew the Agreement for Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC). The last agreement expired in 2025 and negotiations for a new framework have not yet begun.
Despite this, collective bargaining in the metal sector is paying increasing attention to temporary incapacity due to common contingencies, due to its effect on the sector's activity, incorporating tools to improve absence management.
According to the Confemetal report on labor absenteeism between 2021 and 2024, the costs associated with sick leave due to common illness amounted to 2.87 billion euros in 2024, a 90.6% increase compared to 2021. Monday remains the day with the highest concentration of weekly absences.
Salary increases of 4.34% in metal agreements
The structure of collective bargaining in the metal sector is based on the State Metal Agreement (CEM), which sets the general framework for professional classification, training, and occupational risk prevention, and on a wide network of provincial and regional agreements that adapt conditions to the economic reality of each territory.
This framework covers a fabric formed by 220,000 companies and more than two million people dedicated to manufacturing, installations, maintenance, repair, and specialized metal trade.
In 2026, 15 agreements in the sector have been closed that contemplate an average salary increase of 4.34%, affecting 222,000 workers.
At the same time, there are 40 agreements with economic effects in 2026 that reach 1.3 million employees. Of these, 25, that is, three out of five, include salary guarantee clauses linked to inflation, which protect about 870,000 workers in the metal industry and services.
These mechanisms allow for automatic review of the tables when the CPI exceeds the agreed increases. An additional increase of one point is usually applied or the difference regarding the increase in the cost of the shopping basket is fully compensated.
The annual reports of Confemetal on collective bargaining in the Metal Industry and Services and Metal Commerce confirm that in 2025 the agreements maintained a favorable evolution of salaries and working conditions.
In 2025, the weighted average salary increase, which combines pay rises and the reduction of working hours, was 3.4% in the metal industry and services and 3% in metal commerce.
These increases have been accompanied by gradual reductions in working time. According to Confemetal, the average annual working hours have been below 1,750 hours in the metal industry and services, around 38-38.5 hours per week.
"These advances must continue to be supported by improvements in productivity, innovation, and business competitiveness, especially in an economic context marked by energy uncertainty, technological changes, and increasing international competition," emphasize Confemetal.
350,000 professionals are missing in the metal sector
At the same time, the metal employers warn that one of the most urgent challenges in the sector is to cover the shortage of skilled labor.
According to their estimates, companies will need to incorporate around 350,000 new professionals in the coming years to meet the growth of strategic activities such as Defense and Security, energy transition, air conditioning installations, energy efficiency, and numerous traditional trades.
In addition, there is the generational change resulting from the anticipated retirements in the industry, with an estimated exit of nearly 240,000 workers in the coming years.
"Ensuring the availability of qualified talent is therefore a priority to maintain the competitiveness and growth capacity of the sector," emphasize the metallurgical employers.