Positive employment trend despite number of fraudulent contracts

In all, the inspectors checked 9,563 temporary contracts, so the fraudulent ones amounted to 42% of the total. Despite this having been the third summer in a row when there was a concerted inspection effort, this percentage was higher than in the previous two summers. In fact, the number of fraudulent contracts was just over one hundred per cent higher than in 2015.

Presenting the figures, employment minister Iago Negueruela said that they reflect the excessive level of temporary working in the labour market: "something we have been denouncing for a long time". Nevertheless, the minister drew positives from the fact that employment conditions for over 6,000 workers improved, whether through getting a permanent contract, an increase in hours or becoming newly employed. Since 2015, he observed, conditions for some 16,200 workers have improved.

The inspectors also looked at 2,811 part-time contracts. Of these, 294 were altered to reflect longer and accurate hours of working. A further 64 people were signed up to social security, having been working black. A total of 81 proceedings were opened against employers and the total value of penalties was 270,000 euros.

Although temporary employment continues to grow, Negueruela pointed to a changing trend in the labour market, as can be seen from the number of people who were registered with social security in the third quarter of this year. There is, he said, a net creation of indefinite employment contracts, while part-time working has levelled off. There were 15,594 indefinite contracts in the third quarter as opposed to 11,858 temporary ones. Part-time working has gone down by almost three per cent to 16.6% since 2015.