The leap to employee 50.

Labor obligations of companies with 50 or more employees.

The surprising reality that many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Spain face is when they hire their 50th employee (or more); this represents such a significant leap that many decide against taking it. Interestingly, this isn't due to a question of costs or marginal productivity, but rather to legislation that obliges them to assume a series of obligations.

Broadly speaking, these are the main obligations, without prejudice to those that apply to all companies, which are already well known and operate independently of the size of their workforce:

1. Quota for reserving jobs for people with disabilities

First, it should be noted that all companies reaching the threshold of fifty employees are required to employ at least 2 percent people with disabilities (Article 42 of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2013, of November 29). This percentage equates to one employee with a disability for every fifty employees, which will require updating this number based on any changes in staffing levels.

The following are considered disabled workers:

• Those who have a recognized disability equal to or greater than 33 percent.
• Workers receiving permanent total disability, absolute or severe disability pensions.

Regarding the calculation of the number of workers, the reference period of the immediately preceding 12 months must be taken into account, which will result in an average counting all the company's work centers (including part-time workers).

Workers with temporary contracts of less than one year and those on fixed-term intermittent contracts will be counted according to the number of days worked. Every 200 days worked, or fraction thereof, will be counted as one additional worker.

Finally, it should be noted that companies can use any type of contractual arrangement to cover the reserve percentage.

2. Equality Plan

Following the entry into force of Royal Decree-Law 6/2019, companies with more than fifty and up to one hundred employees are required to develop and implement an equality plan. For companies with more than fifty employees, this obligation came into effect on March 7, 2022.

Failure to properly implement the equality plan or to apply it constitutes a serious or, where applicable, very serious offense, and may be subject to sanctions by the Labor Inspectorate.

3. Legal representation of the workers: Works Council

Furthermore, employees of companies or workplaces with fifty or more employees may establish a Works Council as a representative body for the workers. This Council will act as a representative and collegiate body for the defense of the workers' interests. In the case of companies with fifty or more employees, the Council must be composed of a minimum of five workers.

Prior to its establishment, elections must be held at the workplace in question. Furthermore, the committee will have the right to be informed and consulted by the employer on a range of issues that may affect the workers.

4. Safety and Health Committee

Another obligation for companies with more than fifty employees is the establishment of a Health and Safety Committee. This is a joint, collegial body responsible for protecting the health of workers in their workplace.

This Committee will be made up of prevention delegates and the employer and/or their representatives, in a number equal to that of the prevention delegates.

Prevention delegates are those representatives of the workers (of the Committee, in this case) who have specific functions in the area of ​​occupational risk prevention.

5. Collective dismissal

Finally, in the case of carrying out a collective dismissal, we must highlight two main obligations that companies with more than fifty employees must fulfill:

• Duration of the consultation period

If a company with fifty or more employees carries out a collective dismissal, the consultation period will have a maximum duration of thirty calendar days.

• External relocation plan

In addition to the above, the company must offer affected employees an external redeployment plan through authorized redeployment agencies. This plan will cover a minimum period of six months and must include training and career guidance, personalized support for the affected employee, and active job search assistance.

You can contact this professional office for any questions or clarifications you may have.

Warm regards,

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Mariano Sanz

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• The leap to employee 50 - December 19, 2022