black money employment in spain spanish banks spanish economy spanish social security working in spain a
In Spain, it´s notoriously difficult for an employer to sack or to discipline a member of staff. Employees enjoy terrific rights, and even when they find themselves made redundant, they are legally entitled to claim state benefit of up to 70% of their income for the following 2 years.
This is a crippling burden upon Spanish society in general, particularly during a recession when thousands of people are losing their jobs, but also for employers who pay whopping social security contributions in order to feed this social fund.
This presents two problems in Spain.The first is that most employers prefer to hire workers on short-term contracts, and also prefer to pay an element of an employee´s salary in undeclared cash (or black money). This means that the employer faces a lesser social security burden, but it also means that the Spanish fiscal system is awash with dodgy money which never finds its way into the hard-up banking system.
The second problem is that there is a general attitude, particularly amongst public sector office workers, that they have a job for life. It means that they are simply not as invigorated, ambitious or productive as in other countries. They are assured of their regular wage plus an array of state benefits, and know that they are unlikely to ever face the hardship of unemployment in Spain.
In fact, these jobs are in such high demand that many Spanish families would prefer their children to take up such types of employment than venture into the seemingly risky professions that can provide higher rewards, but potentially deeper pitfalls.
This attitude may be a throwback to the old days of Franco and his regime. After all, it was only 40 years ago that Spain was a very different place. The Spanish economy has grown rapidly, while old habits die hard…..very hard!
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