The Spanish government's controversial labor reform bill passed its final hurdle in the lower house yesterday, and is set to be signed into law. Congress threw out most of the amendments included in the bill by the Senate, and the new legislation retains largely the form aproved by Congress after a first reading in July.
The Socialist administration of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero claims the make over of the jobs market is needed to address high unemployment, wich at over 20 percent is currently double the average in the European Union. The unions, however, argue it panders to demands of employers by cutting the cost of firing workers, and will fail to achieve its supposed end of creating more employment.
The bill relaxes the economic and financial conditions under wich companies can lay workers off with severance pay of only 20 days per year in service and promotes an alternative contract with compensation of 33 days as opposed to most current permanent contracts, wich carry an etitlement of 45 days' pay. It also reduces from 100 to 30 days the grace period given to unemployed workers who refuse training or a new job proposal by the state employment agency.
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