The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration and spokesperson for the Spanish government, Elma Saiz, vehemently defended the extraordinary regularization program announced by the Executive. In a conversation with the president of the Círculo de Economía (Circle of Economy), Teresa Garcia-Milà, she stated that "orderly and integrated immigration is the key to sustaining economic prosperity in the coming decades." In response to questions from Garcia-Milà, she applauded the fact that some autonomous communities, such as Catalonia, are demanding powers regarding immigration within the constitutional framework. She acknowledged that there are issues, such as healthcare and others, that require local management. Saiz participated in the Cercle after the organization published an opinion piece a few days ago calling for the regulation of migration flows and their adaptation to an economic model based on improving productivity. The minister, who congratulated the Catalan organization for opening the debate on the issue, noted that the people who will be eligible for regularization "are already here" and rejected claims by some political groups that the new arrivals will overwhelm public services. The data, she added, shows that they do not overwhelm public services, but rather "contribute to sustaining them." It is, in any case, the responsibility of public administrations to size public services according to the population, the Spanish government spokesperson said. She asserted that "when immigration is managed well, it is not a threat but an opportunity for growth and for strengthening democratic society."

Social Security affiliation continued to grow in February in both Catalonia and Spain, although, in parallel, unemployment rose again for the third consecutive month. However, the number of unemployed last month was lower than the figures recorded a year ago, according to employment data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The same pattern was repeated in Spain, with the total number of unemployed workers increasing, but with figures lower than those of February 2015. Specifically, at the end of February in Catalonia there were 327,253 workers seeking employment, 2,039 more than a year ago. in JanuaryUnemployment in Catalonia rose by 0.63%, according to data published Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor. This marks the third consecutive month of rising unemployment in the Catalan labor market, which reached its lowest level since 2008 (when the financial crisis and housing bubble burst) in June, with just over 315,000 unemployed. Despite these three months of increases, the unemployment figures remained 2.11% below the levels of February of last year, when there were 7,088 more unemployed than last month. Nationwide, unemployment also increased, rising by 3,584 people (0.15%) compared to January, reaching 2,442,646 unemployed. As in the case of Catalonia, despite the increase, unemployment remained below the levels of a year earlier, and in the last 12 months it fell by 150,803 people, a 5.84% decrease. By autonomous community, only Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha experienced a greater increase in unemployment in absolute numbers than Catalonia. By region, the bulk of job losses were concentrated in Barcelona, ​​the most populated, where unemployment increased by just over 2,000 people, while in Lleida and Tarragona the increases were 130 and 17 more unemployed, respectively. Girona, on the other hand, ended February with an average of 126 fewer unemployed than the previous month.

In 2025, each Spanish worker performed 5.6 hours of unpaid overtime per week, according to an analysis presented this Monday by the CCOO economic team. This study concludes that €141 per week, equivalent to €7,355 per year, went unpaid in wages and social security contributions for employees due to this unpaid work. This represents 2.49 million unpaid overtime hours, affecting a total of 441,000 people, or 2.3% of the salaried population. In Catalonia, workers put in 495,000 hours of overtime each week, making it the second-highest autonomous community after Madrid (582,000 hours). In fact, Catalonia has 91,000 salaried workers who worked more hours per week than stipulated in their contracts for the same pay, also ranking second. Even so, in terms of the proportion of the total salaried workforce, it fell to fourth place, with 2.7% of Catalans working unpaid overtime. According to the CCOO union, using data from the Labor Force Survey (EPA) of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), there are 928,000 people who regularly worked more hours than agreed upon, without any data indicating that these hours were paid or subject to social security contributions. Within this figure, the report emphasizes, there are 568,000 workers with a 40-hour workweek who regularly worked more hours, "which, a priori, would violate labor legislation regarding working hours." The union estimates that the 2.49 million unpaid overtime hours averaged weekly in 2025 would equate to an annual labor cost of €3.243 billion that companies and public administrations failed to pay workers. This sum includes not only wages but also social security contributions and direct taxes that are no longer being collected by the Tax Agency. Education, the most affected sector

By sector, those with the highest volume of unpaid overtime were education (440,000 hours), transportation and storage (270,000), manufacturing (255,000), and retail (217,000). The teachers' union also has the most workers affected by this labor issue, with 72,000 people working more hours per week than agreed upon without any additional compensation. In contrast, if we look at the incidence, the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply sector and the financial and insurance sector have the highest percentage of employees working unpaid overtime, at 5.6% in both cases. Education ranks third, with 4.9% of its employees in this situation. On the other hand, the sectors with the highest average intensity of unpaid overtime are transportation (8.3 hours), agriculture and livestock farming (7.1 hours), and construction (6.5 hours).

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In 2026, an estimated 301,884 cases of cancer will be detected in Spain, 166,764 in men and 133,120 in women, according to data from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM). Of these, approximately 5% would never have occurred without exposure to carcinogens in the workplace. The CCOO union published the report this Tuesday. Workplace cancer, the leading cause of death at workCoinciding with World Cancer Day, the organization states, according to its own calculations, that this year there will be 15,999 cancer cases and 6,126 deaths from this disease attributable to workplace exposures in Spain. Cancer is the leading cause of work-related deaths in the European Union, accounting for 53% of all work-related deaths each year, compared to 28% for cardiovascular diseases and 6% for respiratory diseases, according to 2017 data from the European Commission. Carcinogenic agents remain a challenge for many companies. In fact, they emphasize that one in four Spanish workers is exposed to workplace carcinogens, while in Europe the figure is one in five, according to estimates from the CAREX database.

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Sick leave due to temporary incapacity (TI), that is, when a worker suffers an illness or accident that temporarily prevents them from performing their job, has skyrocketed since 2017. This has been confirmed by the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) with the publication of a study on the evolution of social security coverage and its findings on this growth. Broadly speaking, from 2017 to 2024, sick leave due to temporary incapacity has increased by 60% in terms of incidence, while its duration has grown by an average of 15%, according to AIReF calculations. Specifically, the average duration of sick leave has increased from 40 days to 46, although in some conditions the increase has been even more pronounced: for mental health reasons, for example, it has risen from 67 days to 99. All of this has resulted in a tripling of spending: pensions. In 2024, these costs amounted to €16.5 billion for public coffers (between the 4th and 15th day of sick leave, the cost is shared with the company, and only from the 16th day onwards is it covered by Social Security), while in 2017 they amounted to €5.473 billion.

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2025 was a record-breaking year for the Catalan labor market, thanks in part to the influx of foreign workers. This group ended the year with a total of 697,103 registered with Social Security, the highest figure ever recorded for a year-end and 4.2% higher than in 2024. According to figures published this Friday by the Spanish Ministry of Labor, the number of these workers has increased by 368,406 over the last decade (+88.9%).

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In Spain, there are approximately 340,000 people registered with Social Security as domestic workers. Even so, this largely female group has had to fight for years to gradually achieve parity with other employees in their labor rights. This Friday, November 14th, key legislation will come into effect to ensure that domestic workers receive the same protection regarding occupational risk prevention. This Friday marks six months since the Minister of Labor and Second Vice President of the Spanish Government, Yolanda Díaz, presented the legislation. Prevention10.es so that families can also assess the occupational risks of the people they employ in their homes. From then on, the grace period ends, and those who fail to comply with this obligation will face fines of between €2,451 and €49,000, depending on whether the infractions are serious or very serious.

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The political and social uproar generated by the Social Security's initial proposal to raise self-employed contributions in 2026, 2027, and 2028 has led the ministry to disgrace. In a new social dialogue meeting held this Monday, the ministry led by Elma Saiz (PSOE) proposed freezing Social Security contributions in the three lowest brackets and leaving the increases for the remaining brackets. However, she also proposed that the update of all contributions would affect only 2026, leaving the remaining years for new negotiations next year.

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Former Social Security Minister José Luis Escrivá (PSOE) left his successor, Elma Saiz, with pending tasks regarding the special regime for self-employed workers (RETA): determine new Social Security contributions starting in 2026Negotiations with unions, employers' associations, and the main self-employed workers' organizations (ATA, UATAE, and UPTA) have already begun, and despite being scheduled for the agenda, they have raised a storm, especially politically. These are the key points of the debate:

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The Spanish government put on the table this Monday a first proposal for the fees that self-employed workers will have to pay over the next three years. The Ministry of Social Security's proposal is for the contributions of those who contribute at the minimum base to increase by between €17.37 and €206.24 per month in 2026, an increase that has already been rejected by the organizations representing this group. At ARA, we spoke with Jordi Garcia, professor of labor law at the University of Barcelona (UB).

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The Ministry of Social Security has opened the Pandora's box regarding self-employed contributions. In a new meeting this Monday with the main representative organizations of this group, the ministry headed by Elma Saiz presented an initial proposal to determine the contributions for the next three years for those affiliated with the special regime for self-employed workers (RETA). Specifically, with the new Social Security approach, the contributions currently paid by self-employed workers who contribute at the minimum base will increase by between €17.37 and €206.24 per month in 2026, depending on each worker's net income, that is, the income obtained after taxes have been paid.

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The month of September marks the beginning of the school year and, as usual, it comes with a slight improvement in the job market. after the end of the summer contracts in AugustIn Catalonia, job creation resulted in 14,869 new Social Security registrations (up 0.39%), while unemployment fell by 5,293 people (-1.62%), according to data published this Thursday by the Ministries of Social Security and Labor, respectively.

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How to collect your pension once you've retired is one of the most sensitive debates among the public, but at the same time it's a subject about which there is a wide lack of knowledge, or at least that's what a survey recently published by the research and analysis center Funcas reveals. Specifically, 51% of citizens between 18 and 75 years of age in the State do not have a clear understanding of the sources of pension funding, that is, how they are paid, nor of the average benefit that pensioners receive in the State, as can be seen from the survey.2025 Survey on Pensions and Financial Education Prepared by Funcas with more than a thousand respondents.

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A new pension calculation method will come into effect on January 1, 2026. This new method aims to address the needs of people who have had intermittent careers or been unemployed for long periods, which affects their future benefits. Among other changes, the statutory retirement age will be slightly increased. We review the new features for those retiring next year.

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The labor market is showing signs of slackening in August, coinciding with the end of the summer season. Catalonia was the autonomous community that lost the most jobs last month and where unemployment increased the most, as confirmed by data published Tuesday by the Ministry of Social Security and the Ministry of Labor.

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It is already usual for the month of July to arrive to break the trend of declining unemployment. Although Catalonia maintains record employment, according to data published this Monday by the Ministry of Labor, the total number of unemployed people in the Principality increased by 4,339, reaching 319,423. In absolute terms, Catalonia was the autonomous community where unemployment grew the most, followed by the Basque Country (+1,600) and Aragon (+1,167). If we compare it with July 2024, however, the number of unemployed Catalans fell by 7,860, a 2.4% decrease.

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The Spanish government and social partners have begun negotiations for new contributions for self-employed workers starting next year and continuing through 2028. However, the social dialogue table has not gotten off to a good start: ATA, the self-employed workers' association within the CEOE (Spanish Economic and Social Council), did not attend. "We will not open a new chapter for 2026 until the 2023 chapter is closed," stated the president of the association, Lorenzo Amor, via social media. For ATA, it is essential to resolve the problems the new model has encountered since it came into force three years ago before discussing a new one.

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The Spanish government promoted the minimum living income (MLI) during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to "eradicate poverty and promote labor market participation and social inclusion for people in vulnerable situations." Five years later, the Independent Accountability Authority (AIREF) believes that this flagship measure of Pedro Sánchez's administration has failed to fulfill at least one of its objectives. The agency found that the benefit reduces the probability of working by three percentage points (12% less) and decreases the number of days worked to 0.6 per month (11% less). These are the main conclusions of the annual analysis of this benefit published by the AIREF, which, for the first time, focuses on its impact on employment.

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For the first time in history, there are more than 3.9 million workers in Catalonia. The June Social Security affiliation data, published this Wednesday by the relevant ministry, confirm that Summer has arrived with a new record in occupancy in our countrySpecifically, 24,177 new people were added to jobs, bringing the total to 3,905,458, the highest figure in the entire historical series.

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Over the past year, Daria and Patricia have gone the other way. The former—a surgeon who arrived from Ukraine three years ago due to the Russian invasion—became self-employed so she could exchange her student visa for a temporary residency and now works as an emergency room doctor for private clinics: "I worked on a 20-hour contract for a family when they recognized my qualifications, which allowed me to balance my work and have total freedom." She is happy with this option and, for the moment, has no plans to return to working for someone else, although at some point she plans to take the MIR exams to open the door to public healthcare.

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