The idea of creating a ministerial department dedicated to labour issues arose during the
reign of Alfonso XIII. This period was influenced by
Krausism ideas, which, throughout the
Restoration (1874–1931), contributed to social policies. Specifically, in Spain, the
Institución Libre de Enseñanza (), created in 1876, was the first place where the "
social question" was debated and it proposed the creation of various bodies aimed at addressing workers' problems and working conditions. Thus, in 1883 the Commission on Social Reforms was created, which later became the Institute of Social Reforms in 1903. The latter's impetus led to the creation of other organizations such as the
Labour Inspectorate in 1906 and the National Institute of Social Insurance in 1908. In parallel, Spanish legislation at the beginning of the 20th century began to delve deeper into these areas, with laws such as the Law on Workplace Accidents of 30 January 1900—the first law to address occupational risks and hold employers responsible for them—, the Law on Women and Children Labour of 13 March 1900, the Law on Sunday Rest of 3 March 1904, and the Law on the Right to Strike of 1909, among others. Furthermore, social pressure, exemplified by protests such as the
La Canadenca strike, forced the adoption of measures such as the
eight-hour workday in 1919.
Twentieth century The Ministry of Labour was created on 8 May 1920, during the third government of
Eduardo Dato, however, it was not a new idea and it had two immediate precedents. In May 1913, the
second government of the Count of Romanones sent a bill to the Cortes to create a Ministry of Labour, Trade and Industry, with the aim of having it operational by July 1st, 1913. However, when the Count left the government in October of that year, the bill was still under discussion and was not passed. In April 1914, King
Alfonso XIII stated in his opening speech to the
Cortes the intention of his government to create this department. This new ministry brought together all those bodies and agencies related to the "
social question" already mentioned above that were in the
Ministry of the Interior. Likewise, the Labour Bureau of the Directorate-General for Trade, Industry and Labour of the Ministry of Development, the Emigration Council, and the Board of Engineers and Pensioned Abroad Workers were also integrated into this new ministry. In 1922, similar to the 1913 project, the department was renamed "Ministry of Labour, Trade and Industry" by assuming powers from the ministries
of Development—trade and industry—and
of Public Instruction and Fine Arts—statistics—. The industry and trade responsibilities were transferred to the new Ministry of National Economy (today known as
Ministry of Industry) in 1928. In a time of great conflict, in 1923 General
Miguel Primo de Rivera, 2nd Marquess of Estella established a
dictatorship that would last until 1930. At first, he abolished the ministry and appointed Alejandro García Martín, a civil servant, as the person responsible for the affairs of the "Department of Labour, Trade and Industry". Later, the dictator established that the departments would be managed by the under-secretary and in June 1924 the Institue for Social Reforms is abolished, being replace it by the Labour Council, as an advisory body. It was a time of great labour advances, perhaps because some reformist members of the defunct Institute of Social Reforms held important positions in the Ministry, approving relevant regulations such as the first Labour Code in 1926, the Home-based work Regulation of 1927—which aimed to regulate and provide some protection for manual labour carried out at home, predominantly by women—and the Emmigration Law—to protect Spanish workers abroad. Also, similar to
Italian fascist institutions, Minister
Aunós introduced
corporatism through the
Organización Corporativa Nacional. Furthermore,
vocational training was promoted to end what Primo de Rivera described as "technical illiteracy", approving the Industrial Education Statute and a Social School for this purpose. The Ministry of Labour continued to focus on another important element:
social insurance. Continuing the work of Spanish governments since the beginning of the century, the Franco regime emphasized social insurance, notably the Compulsory Health Insurance (SOE) and the Compulsory Old Age and Disability Insurance (SOVI). At the same time, the Spanish People Charter was approved in 1945 and labour mutual societies were created. From the 1960s onwards, efforts were made to give uniformity and unity to the State's protective action, and for this purpose the Law on the Social Security Bases of 1963 was approved. This law left behind the disorder and autonomy of the different instruments of the State and established a Social Security System headed by the Ministry of Labour and managed by a new type of government agency, the "Managing Entities", namely: the National Institute of Social Insurance and the Labour Mutual Societies. The last labour laws of this period were enacted after the dictator's death. These included the 1976 Labour Relations Law, which sought to establish working conditions within a framework of freedom, and the 1977 Labour Relations Law, which restored two fundamental rights: freedom of association and the right to strike. This recognition laid the groundwork for the Constitution.
Return to democracy Following the
restoration of democracy,
Social Security responsibilities were transferred in 1977 to the newly re-established
Ministry of Health and Social Security, although they were regained four years later. During the years it was under the Ministry of Health, the Social Security institutional framework was completely transformed; most of the "managing entities" entities were either abolished. The National Institute of Social Insurance (1908) was divided in several other managing entities: National Institute of Social Security, the National Institute of Health, and the
National Institute of Social Services. The concept of "common services" also emerged, such as the General Treasury of the Social Security and the Social Security IT Management Office. The National Employment Institute (INEM) was also created in 1978. congratulates the Labour Minister
Rafael Calvo Ortega, after the approval of the Workers' Statute. 26 February 1980 The
1978 Constitution reinstated numerous labour rights and introduced a system of guarantees for their protection. Among these, Article 35.1 states that "all Spaniards have the duty to work and the right to work, to freely choose their profession or occupation, to advancement through work, and to sufficient remuneration to satisfy their needs and those of their family, without discrimination on the grounds of sex". To complement this article, the second paragraph of Article 35 established the constitutional mandate to approve a Workers' Statute. Just three months after the inauguration of the
third government of Adolfo Suárez, the cabinet presented the aforementioned bill to the Cortes, which was approved in February 1980. Since then, this law has been thoroughly amended twice, in 1995 and 2015, both being legal recasts to reflect the minor changes that have occurred in labour regulations over the years. After a brief merger with the
Ministry of Health in 1981, the two ministries separated again a few months later, as it was concluded that the problems facing the
Spanish National Health System warranted a ministry entirely dedicated to that purpose; thus, Social Security returned to the Ministry of Labour. A decade later, the creation of the
Ministry of Social Affairs resulted in the loss of social policies, including the
Institute for the Elderly and Social Services (IMSERSO). However, both departments were merged in 1996, following the
electoral victory of the
People's Party, with the
Institute of Women (INMUJER) and the
Institute of Youth (INJUVE) being assigned to the Ministry of Labour for the first time. The following year, the National Institute for the Promotion of the Social Economy—created in 1991 to replace the Directorate-General for Cooperatives and Worker-Owned Companies—was abolished, and its functions were transferred to the Directorate-General for the Promotion of the Social Economy.
Present Continuing with the reorganization of labour powers and agencies, in the last months of the
second government of José María Aznar, in compliance with the mandate of Law 56/2003, of December 16, on Employment, the INEM became known as the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), since at this time most of the employment policies were decentralized to the
autonomous communities and the current National Employment System was established. In 2004, prime minister
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero integrated the immigration policy of the Ministry of the Interior into the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
2008–2014 financial crisis: labour reforms In 2008, social policies were distributed between the
Ministry of Education and the newly created
Ministry of Equality, although in both cases they were transferred to the
Ministry of Health between 2009 and 2010, respectively. During this period, the main effects of the
economic crisis began to be felt, leading to important reforms such as the
2010 labour reform, which extended the "employment promotion contract" with a
severance payment of 33 days of salary per year of work—which meant cheaper dismissals compared to the normal contract that had 45 days—, established the possibility of dismissal with less severance pay in objective cases of economic problems, greater control over the unemployed, harsher penalties for
absenteeism, increased severance pay for temporary contracts—to discourage their use—and increased bonuses for companies for new hires, among other measures. Following the
2011 general election, prime minister
Mariano Rajoy replaced the term "Labour" with "Employment" for the first time; the ministry was then known as "Ministry of Employment and Social Security," although retaining the same powers. This government, which from the opposition had criticized the ineffectiveness of the 2010 labour reform in achieving the goal of promoting employment, announced that it would carry out a new reform. As promised, a few months after its inauguration, the conservative government approved a new reform that, among other aspects, it equated private employment agencies with public ones to help the latter find jobs for the unemployed, reduced compensation in case of unfair dismissal from 45 to 33 days, made
collective agreements more flexible—the conditions initially approved can be renegotiated at any time—and limited their post-expiry validity (meaning that they remain in force for only two years after expiration). Following the
vote of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy and the formation of the
first government of Pedro Sánchez in June 2018, it became known as the "Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security".
Social Economy In January 2020, prime minister
Pedro Sánchez split the powers on foreigners, immigration and emigration, and those relating to social security from the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security, which were integrated into the new
Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. It was the first time in forty years that Labour and Social Security were separated. At the same time, the concept of "
social economy" was included in the department's name, a concept defined in the 2011 Social Economy Law as "the set of economic and business activities, carried out in the private sphere by those entities that, in accordance with the principles set out in article 4, pursue either the collective interest of their members, or the general economic or social interest, or both". As a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic, in September 2020 the government issued a
royal decree-law regulating
remote work for the first time, a measure that was later ratified by the
Cortes with the approval of the 2021 Remote Work Law. (1 May) In 2022, the
PSOE and
Unidas Podemos coalition government approved a new labour reform, the third in twelve years. This new reform eliminated contracts for specific projects or services, fixed-term contracts were redefined, training contracts were reformed, and permanent contracts were strengthened with the aim of reducing temporary employment. It also reinstated the limitless post-expiry validity of collective bargaining agreements—which allows an agreement to remain in force without time limit until a new one is approved—a provision that had been eliminated in 2012. Furthermore, the preeminence of sectoral agreements over company agreements was established in matters of wages, and temporary layoff schemes (ERTEs) were modified, establishing two types: cyclical—with a maximum duration of one year due to economic difficulties—and sectoral—with a maximum duration of one year, with two six-month extensions to allow for retraining or professional transition in a specific economic sector. One of the most frequent criticisms the government received from unions and left-wing parties regarding this reform was its refusal to increase severance pay, which remained at 33 days. That same year, the ministry fostered the formation of the Ibero-American Network of Labor Inspections, after a failed attempt in 2009. Similarly, the following year the ministry promoted the Ibero-American Network of Public Employment Services. In 2023, the
Cortes Generales approved a new Employment Law which, among other measures, transforms the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) into a
state agency called the Spanish Employment Agency, which, in addition to managing funds for employment policies, is also given powers to design those same policies. At the end of this year, continuing with the policy of promoting the social economy, the prime minister created a Secretariat State for Social Economy that assumed the powers previously held by the Secretariat of State for Employment—remained as
Secretariat of State for Labour—in relation to the social economy and corporate social responsibility. ==Organization==