Conciliations for dismissal in Catalonia grew by 13% in the first 10 months of the year. The 48,284 registered is the highest number since before the pandemic and occurs after the labor reform is fully in force.
It is not possible to know what part of this increase is due to the fact that there are more workers in the labor market and what part is because there are more workers with an indefinite contract who do not pass the trial period and are fired a few months after entering the company as Foment denounced a few weeks ago. Sources from the Business and Labor department said that “many other parameters would have to be analyzed beyond the type of contract that would surely give us a multi-causal explanation.” The same sources add that "there are more people working than ever, there are records of Social Security affiliations and that also means greater movement in the world of work." The weight of conciliations for dismissal on the total number of Social Security affiliates in Catalonia has gone from representing 1.48% last year to 1.63%. In 2019 before the pandemic it was 1.59%.
Ricard Bellera, from CC.OO. of Catalonia, believes that fraud may have grown with more dismissals but that it is not possible to know what part has contributed to the growth of conciliations. Nuria Gilgado, from UGT Catalunya, links the rise in conciliations with the increase in employment.
The Foment del Treball employer association maintains that both in Catalonia and in Spain as a whole, around 70% of the new indefinite contracts that are signed have a duration of less than one year. The Government does not offer data.
The employers' organization assures that, since temporary contracts do not exist, many companies use permanent contracts and dismiss the worker before the end of the trial period or during the first months of validity. The unions deny these data and reject that the labor reform harms hiring.
Conciliation for dismissal is the process that occurs when a company dismisses a worker in a process other than an employment regulation file (ERE). Precisely, dismissals due to ERE are also increasing this year (36% more) and already exceed those of all of last year. This process occurs while the labor market in Catalonia reduces unemployment and creates jobs.
