Agreement for salary equalization of the 120,000 workers in the social sector

BarcelonaThe Generalitat, employers' associations from the social sector, and the CCOO and UGT unions have signed an agreement this Wednesday to achieve full salary parity for the 120,000 professionals working in the fields of geriatric residences, disability, childhood, drug addiction, and mental health. The pact establishes gradual salary increases until 2030, the year in which private company employees are expected to earn the same as those under an administration agreement. To achieve this, the Department of Social Rights and Inclusion will implement a new company financing system that conditions an increase in public tariffs on an effective rise in payrolls.

Currently, the average salary gap stands at 37%, but in areas like residences, which employ 66% of professionals, it increases to 42%. Low wages and the significant difference with the public sectors have been the battleground for workers in geriatric and leisure services, and the reason why half of female workers and social educators decide to leave their jobs to find better-paid occupations. Cutbacks following various crises froze social tariffs, the price the administration pays companies for contracted or outsourced services and places. However, even since the government of Pere Aragonès made the first increase starting in 2023, companies have not always passed on this extra money to salary improvements.

An external audit estimated the salary gap at 600 million euros. Given the impossibility of the Generalitat disbursing this amount at once, it has committed to providing an additional 150 million euros each year until 2030, on the condition that it goes entirely to the workers' pockets and not for improving equipment or business results. To make this possible, companies must first demonstrate that they have increased staff salaries beyond inflation, and those that have made the greatest effort will be rewarded with more money.

This way, the "one-size-fits-all" approach, meaning uniform increases in social tariffs for everyone currently in effect, will end. Social Rights proposes a calculation based on a new indicator that takes into account the average salary of each company's staff and the commitment to increase it for the year. One of the three tiers of increases planned in the agreement will be applied: the CPI, 6.38%, and 8.14%.

Controls and monitoring

In the agreement reached with companies and the two majority unions in the sector, mechanisms for control and monitoring of company compliance are established, which will have to certify whether they have made effective the salary increase committed to the department. With this incentive formula, the department is confident that the resulting competitiveness to retain staff will be the key factor for the majority of companies with contracted services and places –with public funding– to request to join the system.

However, if any company opts to continue with the current funding, the Government assures that it will do everything possible to ensure that no worker is left behind. "The market will force companies, and if not, it will be the Generalitat that acts," they say from the administration, insisting that tariff increases can only be used for salary increases or for improving workers' working conditions.

According to the department's data, the average salary in the social sector is 18,400 euros per year. A third of companies pay below 19,000 euros on average, and only 4% are at the upper threshold. The forecasts are that, based on these effort-based bonuses, those that pay less will be halved, and, on the other hand, those that pay above average will increase by between 20% and 25%.