Spain: collective agreement for large retailers provisionally renewed, integrating law on remote work

On 24 March, the trade unions CCOO, Fagsa, Fetico and UGT penned an agreement with Anged, the association of large retailers in Spain, which partially renews the sector’s collective agreement. Presented by negotiators as a ‘transitional agreement’, the deal succeeds the 2017-2020 collective agreement (see article n°10180) and seeks to guide the evolution of a sector undergoing a fundamental shift. The agreement will last for two years (2021-2022) and concerns the El Corte Inglés department stores, as well as Carrefour Leroy Merlin, Fnac, Alcampo, Conforama, Ikea, Apple, and Makro, applying to the some 230,000 employees in the sector. It covers arrangements for remote working, which were recently defined under Spanish law, as well as the right to disconnect and the creation of a salary register to ensure equal pay, and even provides a framework for e-commerce work on Sundays. In terms of pay, the agreement provides for a 2% increase over two years.