Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 83rd ILC session (1996)

Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132) - Spain (Ratification: 1972)

In its previous comments, the Committee noted the observations made by the El Radium Textile Technicians' Union and the General Union of Workers (UGT) concerning periods of incapacity for work resulting from sickness or injury as they relate to the application of Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention, under the terms of which such periods may not be counted as part of the minimum annual holiday with pay prescribed in Article 3, paragraph 3, of the Convention. In this respect the Committee notes that, although the Convention leaves it to the appropriate machinery to determine the conditions under which such periods of incapacity resulting from sickness or injury may not be counted as part of the minimum annual holiday with pay, such conditions should be laid down as clearly as possible. The Committee notes that, in new observations submitted in October 1994, when referring to workers who are dismissed and those who are recruited under temporary contracts, the UGT states that the former generally only receive financial compensation in place of leave and that the latter, in both the private sector and the public administration, do not benefit from either leave or financial compensation. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report to the effect that section 38(2) of the Workers' Charter, as amended in 1994, gives greater scope to collective agreements to determine the periods of annual leave and that nothing prevents them from taking into consideration periods of leave during which the worker suffers from sickness or injury. The Committee also notes that, in reply to the observations of the UGT, the Government states that the law makes no distinction between established and temporary workers with regard to the granting of leave and that any abuses that may occur arise less out of the regulations respecting leave than those governing temporary contracts and their enforcement. The Committee hopes that the Government will provide information on the measures which have been taken or are envisaged to ensure, in accordance with Article 6, paragraph 2, that periods of incapacity for work resulting from sickness or injury are not counted as part of the minimum annual holiday with pay prescribed in Article 3, paragraph 3. On the subject of precarious contracts, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the effect given in practice to Article 5, under which the minimum period of service which may be required for entitlement to leave shall not in any event exceed six months.