Labour policy in the face of the COVID-19 socio-economic crisis in Spain: institutional change and social pacts
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-06-2021-0261 |
| Published date | 08 November 2022 |
| Date | 08 November 2022 |
| Pages | 437-456 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Luis Cárdenas,Paloma Villanueva |
Labour policy in the face
of the COVID-19 socio-economic
crisis in Spain: institutional change
and social pacts
Luis C
ardenas
Complutense University of Madrid, Pozuelo de Alarc
on, Spain, and
Paloma Villanueva
Complutense Institute for International Studies, Pozuelo de Alarc
on, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to analyse the institutionalchanges in the Spanish labour market in the light of the
measures introduced to support workers during the COVID-19 crisis. Applying the theoretical framework the
authors’hypothesis is that the labour policy response to the crisis provoked by COVID-19 in Spain has ranged
from strategy of preservation of the social democratic coalition to the anti-bourgeois bloc coalition with a
greater presence of social pacts and the support of the social partners.
Design/methodology/approach –Combining the institutional theory of liberalisation trajectories, the four
ideal-typical reform strategies and the social pacts literature, the authors analyse the change in the labour
market policy orientation during the COVID-19 economic crisis in Spain.
Findings –In comparison to the Great Recession labour policy response, short-time work schemes and new
benefits have characterised the 2020 labour policy strategy. Then, the labour policy response has oscillated
between, on the one hand, a strategy of preservation of the social democratic coalition, which is characterised
by measures to protect workers on the margins of the labour market without affecting the discretionary power
of employers. On the other hand, a strategy of the anti-bourgeois bloc coalition, reflected in the employment
safeguard clause that attempts to limit both external numerical flexibility and the increase in unemployment.
Finally, the authors have analysed whether the labour policies after the COVID-19 crisis constitute a new round
of social pacts in Spain and how this took place. They conclude that the main measures approved in the area of
employment protection have been supported by social pacts and the social partners (trade unions and
employers), as reflected in the signing of the Social Agreement in Defence of Employment (ASDE).
Originality/value –To the best of the authors’knowledge, this is a significant contribution as it is the first
article to point out that the labour policy represents a change in the trajectory of liberalisation, limiting the
discretionary power of employersand re-regulating the labour market. The main measure of (re)regulation has
been to safeguard employment and to avoid objective or unfair dismissals, which is the traditional form of
adjustment. In other words, internal numerical flexibility has been promoted over external flexibility, thus
significantly modifying the orientation of labour policy. Finally, the authors have found that social pacts have
allowed for greater institutional coherence between legal changes and the behaviour of employers and workers.
Keywords COVID-19, Labour policies, Institutional change, Spain, Social pacts
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
International organisations, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO, 2021) have
summarised the measures implemented during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020 into the following
three groups: health protection measures, support of economic activity and workers’support.
In this paper, we analyse the institutional changes in the Spanish labour market in the
light of the measures introduced to support workers. To that end, we combine three
theoretical frameworks: the institutional theory of liberalisation trajectories (Thelen, 2014;
Baccaro and Howell, 2017), the four ideal-typical reformist strategies available to southern
Spanish labour
market and
institutional
changes
437
JEL Classification —E24, J08, J50
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 15 June 2021
Revised 5 December 2021
3 June 2022
Accepted 21 June 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 45 No. 2, 2023
pp. 437-456
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-06-2021-0261
European governments (Bulfone and Tassinari, 2021) and the literature of social pacts
(Avdagic et al., 2011).
These three theories discuss how public policies that affect labour institutions are shaped
in Mediterranean countries and the participation of social actors in the social and economic
contexts following the Great Recession. The case of Spain is of interest given the substantial
change in labour policy and the re-emergence of the social concertation process during the
COVID-19 crisis. Despite all European governments having developed short-time work
schemes, there are notable differences amongst them. Muller and Schulten (2020) present the
different coverage rates and benefit generosity in European countries whereas the European
Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) (2020) report studies these differences in regulation in
detail. Furthermore, Eurofound (2021) states that in most countries a significant number of
policy measures were adopted without meaningful consultation with social partners.
In the light of this evidence, we propose the following research questions (RQs):
RQ1. What kind of institutional change has taken place during the COVID-19 crisis in the
Spanish labour market?
RQ2. What reformist strategy has been followed by the Spanish government?
RQ3. How have social partners participated in the elaboration of the labour policies?
Applying these theoretical approaches, our first hypothesis is that institutional change was a
conversion into measures to maintain employment andlayeringinunemploymentprotection.The
second hypothesis is that the labour policy response to the crisis provoked by COVID-19 in Spain
has ranged from a strategy of preservation of the social democratic coalition to the anti-bourgeois
bloc coalition. Finally, the third hypothesis holds that the tension between these reformist
strategies has implied a greater presence of social pacts and the support of the social partners.
Our methodology consists of the analysis of official documents and laws passed in 2020,
as well as a review of national statistics on the labour market, which constitute an appropriate
tool to measure the intensity and effects of the implemented legislation. Contrary to most
studies focussing on labour regulation in 2020 (Eurofound, 2021;European Parliament, 2021;
ILO, 2021), this paper focusses on a detailed implementation of the measures and their
outcome. Therefore, we exploit national databases which are typically overlooked by
international organisations given their non-comparability possibilities.
The main contribution is to identify that, despite the similarities amongst the measures in
the European countries, the specifics of the way in which they have been implemented are
very relevant in the Spanish case, since a (re)regulation of the labour market and a re-
emergence of social dialogue have taken place. This suggests new lines of interpretation of
labour policy in Spain in the post-pandemic scenario.
The following sections present the theoretical framework, and analyse the main measures
introduced in the field of employment and unemployment protection as compared to previous
reformist strategies. The last section concludes.
2. Theoretical framework
This section deals with the main theoretic lines, their fundamental concepts and ongoing
debates, and then proceeds with the current state of the literature for the Spanish case.
2.1 Liberalisation trajectories in the labour market
First, this paper is framed within the debate on the liberalisation trajectories arising in post-
industrial societies from a comparative political economy perspective. In this sense, the
process of liberalisation (Glyn, 2007;Baccaro and Howell, 2017) in the labour market includes
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