Work will approve next Tuesday the regulation to ensure the transparency of labor conditions.

The transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions was being processed in Spain through a Government Bill, registered in the Congress of Deputies under number 121/000008, when the Executive decided to proceed via a royal decree(-law). That bill had not completed its processing: it was at the stage of published amendments and pending committee report and presentation, with the processing practically blocked.

Identification of the parliamentary initiative

The transposition was carried out through the Bill modifying the consolidated text of the Workers' Statute Law and other labor provisions, for the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1152, relating to transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union. It was a Government bill, processed in the Congress of Deputies (Series A, no. 8-1), with the following basic characteristics:

• Author: Government.
• Chamber of initiation: Congress of Deputies.
• Competent committee: Committee on Labor, Social Economy, Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations.
• Regime: full legislative competence of the Committee and urgent processing.

Phases reached before opting for the decree

Based on the processing information, the sequence was as follows:

• February 6, 2024: the Council of Ministers approves the draft bill and also agrees to request parliamentary processing by the urgent procedure.
• February 9, 2024: the bill is registered in the Congress.
• February 13, 2024: the Congress Board qualifies and admits it for processing, and agrees to entrust its approval to the competent Committee, with full legislative competence and urgent procedure, opening a first amendment period of eight working days.
• February 16, 2024: the text of the bill is published in the Official Bulletin of the General Courts.
• The amendment period for the articles, initially set until February 26, is successively extended (at least until March 13) due to the accumulation of proposals from the groups.
• March 20, 2024: the period for submitting amendments is definitively closed.
• March 21, 2024: the Plenary of the Congress approves, by 331 votes in favor, the referral to the Plenary of certain legislative initiatives, including this bill, which reinforces the expectation of a subsequent plenary debate on the Committee's report.
• March 26, 2024: a new intermediate processing bulletin is published.
• April 8, 2024: the amendments to the articles submitted by parliamentary groups are published in a specific bulletin of “amendments to the articles”.

From that moment, the processing summary itself indicates that, once all amendments were published, they should be studied by a presentation committee, which would prepare a report for subsequent submission to the Committee, where the report should be approved. However, there is no record that this presentation committee ever met or that any report was approved, nor that the Committee issued a report or that the Plenary debated the text.

Effective status at the time of the shift to the decree route

In summary, when the Government decides to resort to a royal decree(-law) to complete the transposition of Directive 2019/1152, bill 121/000008 was:

• Formally under processing in the Congress, without having passed to the Senate.
• With text published and amendments to the articles already registered and published.
• Pending constitution and work of the presentation committee that was to examine those amendments.
• Without presentation committee report nor committee report, and therefore still far from the final debate and vote in Plenary.

The parliamentary press of the time, which reviews the legislature, describes this situation as a processing that had advanced up to the closure of amendments but had fallen into a practical paralysis linked to the electoral cycle and the general backlog of projects in the committees. Added to this is that, meanwhile, the European Commission had initiated an infringement procedure for the lack of complete transposition of the directive on transparent and predictable working conditions.

Hence, when the Executive opts for a specific royal decree(-law) to comply with European obligations regarding working conditions, it does so against a background in which the ordinary parliamentary route had not gone beyond the phase of published amendments and preparation of the presentation committee, without a clear short-term approval horizon despite the urgent nature formally granted to the bill.

In the transposition of European directives in labor and social protection matters, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy acts as the competent ministry by reason of the subject matter, making it the technical and political center of gravity of the process. Although the formal decision corresponds to the Government as a whole and many phases are coordinated from other departments, Labor is the one who designs the substantive content of most of the rules that incorporate those directives into Spanish law.

Being the “competent ministry by reason of the subject matter” means that, when a directive affects labor relations, employment, risk prevention, social dialogue, worker protection, or certain aspects of Social Security, it is Labor's responsibility to lead its analysis and propose the transposition route: law, royal decree-law, royal decree, or ministerial order, in coordination with the rest of the Government. In mixed directives (for example, with labor and equality components, or labor and digital components), Labor shares this competence with other ministries, dividing articles or material areas.

In the initial phase, Labor conducts a technical and political examination of the directive: identifies minimum obligations, margins for national configuration, and deadlines, and compares the Spanish situation with European requirements. Based on this, it develops a transposition plan (sometimes integrated into general European affairs plans) where the necessary regulatory instruments, schedule, and responsible units are determined. This stage also analyzes implications for autonomous communities and social agents.

In the development of internal regulations, the Ministry of Labor assumes the drafting of draft bills and, when appropriate, royal decree-laws, as well as royal decrees and ministerial orders that develop technical or execution aspects. This work is done within the ministry's structure (state secretariats, general directorates, legal services), with several key elements:

• Public consultations and hearings: when the transposition requires a legal or regulatory norm of special relevance, Labor promotes prior public consultations and, subsequently, the hearing and public information of the text, gathering contributions from citizens, companies, and organizations.
• Participation of social agents: given the labor nature of the directives, social concertation is systematically used. Unions and employers participate in dialogue tables where transposition options are negotiated, refined, or specified.
• Impact assessments: the ministry prepares normative impact assessments (economic, budgetary, gender, SMEs, etc.), essential for governmental and parliamentary processing, where it justifies the decisions made and their adequacy to the directive.

Regarding interministerial coordination, Labor works closely with other departments. With the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, it collaborates both in the prior negotiation phase of directives and in monitoring Spain's compliance, channeling information to EU institutions. With the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts, it coordinates internal processing: inclusion of projects in the Council of Ministers' agenda, general legal review, normative quality control, and relations with Parliament once the text leaves the Government.

During the parliamentary processing of bills transposing directives, the Ministry of Labor maintains an active although not formally visible role in the Chambers' regulations. It prepares reports and Government position proposals regarding submitted amendments, suggests technical amendments through the parliamentary group supporting the Executive, and provides technical support to Government representatives who appear in committee and plenary to defend the text.

Once the norm is approved and formal transposition completed, the ministry retains relevant functions in execution and monitoring. It supervises the practical application of new rules in companies and administrations, issues interpretative instructions or circulars when appropriate, evaluates whether the directive's objectives have been met, and prepares the information Spain must send to the European Commission (implementation reports, statistics, impact evaluations). If gaps, inefficiencies, or infringement risks are detected, Labor proposes additional reforms or complementary regulatory development.

In summary, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy is the central actor in the transposition of European directives in the labor field: it defines the adaptation strategy, drafts the regulations, pilots social concertation, accompanies parliamentary processing, and subsequently ensures correct application and dialogue with European institutions on Spain's compliance level.

In Spain, the modification of essential working conditions by company decision is mainly regulated by Article 41 of the Workers' Statute (Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23), in its updated version. The law refers to substantial modification of working conditions and sets both the causes that can justify it and the procedure and rights of the workers.

What is considered an “essential condition” and substantial modification

The Statute indicates that the following are considered substantial modifications, among others:

• Working hours.
• Schedule and distribution of working time.
• Shift work regime.
• Remuneration system and salary amount.
• Work and performance system.
• Functions, when they exceed the limits of functional mobility of Article 39.

They may affect conditions recognized in the contract, in collective agreements or pacts, or even rights previously enjoyed by unilateral company decision with collective effects.

Causes the company must prove

The company can only agree on a substantial modification when there are proven economic, technical, organizational, or production reasons, that is, causes related to:

• Competitiveness or productivity.
• Technical or work organization in the company.
• Changes in demand for products or services, work systems and methods, or means of production.

It is not enough to invoke them generically: they must be justifiable and be the true reason for the change. Abuse of this figure, for example by splitting successive modifications to avoid collective thresholds, is considered fraud of law and the modification may be declared null.

Individual and collective modification: thresholds

The same Article 41 differentiates between:

• Collective: which, within a 90-day period, affects at least:
  • 10 workers in companies with fewer than 100 employees.
  • 10 % of the workforce in companies with 100 to 300 employees.
  • 30 workers in companies with more than 300 employees.
• Individual: which, in that same period, does not reach those thresholds.

Procedure for individual modifications

In individual cases, the company must:

• Notify in writing the decision to the affected worker and to the legal representation of the workers.
• Respect a minimum notice of 15 days before the effective date.

If the modification affects working hours, schedule, shifts, remuneration system, or functions (under the terms of Article 41.1), and the worker is harmed, they have the right to:

• Opt for contract termination with compensation of 20 days' salary per year of service, up to a maximum of 9 months.
• Challenge the decision before the social jurisdiction; the court will declare the modification justified or unjustified and, in the latter case, recognize the right to return to previous conditions.

Procedure for collective modifications

When the modification is collective, the company must follow a more protective procedure, which includes:

• Prior reliable communication of the intention to start the procedure so that a representative commission of the workers is constituted.
• Constitution of that commission within a maximum period (generally 5 to 15 days, depending on whether there are legal representatives in the affected centers).
• Opening of a consultation period with the representatives, not exceeding 15 days, to negotiate about:
  • The causes of the change.
  • The possibility to avoid or reduce its effects.
  • Accompanying measures to mitigate harm.
• Good faith negotiation within a negotiating commission with a maximum of 13 members per side.

If the consultation period ends with an agreement, it is presumed that the justifying causes exist, although the agreement can be challenged judicially in cases of fraud, deceit, coercion, or abuse of rights.

Rights of challenge and judicial control

Besides the individual actions already mentioned, workers or their representatives can:

• File a collective challenge to the company decision when the modification is collective.
• Argue that the invoked causes do not exist or that the legal procedure was not respected, which may lead to the modification being declared unjustified or null (for example, if it violates fundamental rights or is done in fraud of law).

In any case, the general framework of the Statute prohibits the modification from generating discrimination or imposing conditions below the applicable legal or conventional minimums.