The occupational dangers of three out of ten home staff stay pending analysis regardless of the duty | Economy | EUROtoday

The 378,000 home staff in Spain have the suitable to have their occupational dangers evaluated, however there are some 110,000 with whom their employers haven’t but complied. That is, in 71% of instances, households have happy this regulatory requirement, obligatory since November 14, however there’s a remaining 29% that is still in the identical scenario as earlier than the Ministry of Labor deployed this new coverage. Yolanda Díaz’s division signifies that it’s evaluating these outcomes and that it’ll take measures “so that all employees are protected and the standard is met in all homes.”

Labor enabled a web-based software in May free with which households can full the occupational danger evaluation of those staff. EL PAÍS requested the ministry for information from evaluations issued with this web site, prevencion10.es. Díaz’s division didn’t instantly present the info, however it did so after this newspaper submitted a request via the transparency portal.

According to information supplied by the National Institute of Safety and Health at Work (a part of the ministry and company to which prevencion10.es relies upon), as of November 30, 268,639 danger assessments have been issued. Social Security information point out that in November there have been 378,729 registered individuals who had been engaged on this exercise (342,369 within the particular house employment system and 36,360 within the normal regime), so the hole is 110,090 undone evaluations. Many others work in an irregular scenario and aren’t affiliated with Social Security.

The crossing of knowledge requires some {qualifications}. A priori, it could possibly be argued that Social Security information doesn’t measure folks as such, however reasonably affiliations. Thus, a home employee with three contracts counts as three affiliations, a phenomenon that can be extra frequent on this very precarious sector than in different extra secure ones. However, the obligatory analysis requires a danger evaluation for every worker in every house they work in. That is, a home employee who moonlights in three houses will need to have three completely different evaluations that diagnose the precise dangers of every house. Therefore, there ought to be as many evaluations as there are affiliations.

Another potential argument in opposition to this information crossing is that some employers might have chosen to guage the dangers via third-party prevention providers (specialised firms), as an alternative of utilizing the prevencion10.es software. However, the specialists consulted by this newspaper rule out this risk, contemplating it most unlikely that the amount of people that have opted for this selection at an financial value is consultant when the software that Trabajo supplied is free.

The most feminized sector

With this new coverage, Yolanda Díaz’s division seeks to higher defend essentially the most feminized skilled group within the financial system (93% are girls), with a better presence of foreigners and twin nationals (66%, in comparison with the EPA common of 20%), with the worst remuneration (1,138 gross euros per thirty days, lower than half the common) and the longest agreed working hours (39.9 hours per week, an hour and a half greater than the common).

Labor highlights that “70% of employers have already completed the evaluation” and that this permits them “to be reasonably satisfied with the implementation of the tool at this initial moment, as it is a new right for home workers.” The quantity of evaluations leads Labor to think about that there’s “great involvement” of households. “However,” the ministry continues, “we are evaluating these results and we will take the appropriate measures so that all employees are protected and the standard is met in all homes.”

Among the measures in order that non-evaluated occupational dangers are analyzed, each unions and employers insist on the necessity for higher communication by the ministry. Ana Garrido, president of the Spanish Association of Personal and Domestic Services (AESPD), believes that the info reveals that “many people have done the evaluations”, however that one other substantial half “should not have received the information” concerning the obligatory nature.

“There has not been enough communication from the ministry to families. In other areas it is done, such as in income tax return campaigns. The Government should make more efforts in this regard,” provides the employer chief. Patricia Ruiz, Secretary of Occupational Health of UGT, believes that there are “many older people” who could not have been conscious of the duty, which is why she requires bolstered data from the Government.

“We need more information campaigns,” insists the confederal secretary of Occupational Health of CC OO, Mariano Sanz, however on the identical time asks that the Inspection be on guard. “I think the best thing would be to send a communication to those who have not yet complied with the obligation, giving them a certain period of time to evaluate, before considering punitive measures. But if they continue not to comply afterwards, they should be considered,” provides this specialist.

Failure to hold out the self-assessment or not inform home staff of the preventive measures adopted could also be categorised as a severe infraction. The highest punishment included within the laws with this consideration is 49,180 euros at its most stage. Díaz’s division emphasizes that most of these sanctions will solely be given if there are aggravating circumstances. Without them, mostly, non-compliance could be thought-about minor and the penalty could be a most of two,450 euros. The Inspection can’t entry houses, as many workers requested, given the inviolability of the house acknowledged within the Constitution. Thus, the most certainly means for non-compliance with the analysis to be found is for the employees themselves to report.

Although the prevencion10.es software has been obtainable since May, 83% of the evaluations had been issued within the month of November, when the duty got here into power. The web site went down within the days earlier than November 14, an issue that the ministry attributed to a pc assault. The software stays operational, appropriate each for the 110,000 households that haven’t but fulfilled this obligation and for many who now rent home staff.

Ministry breaches

Ruiz sees 29% of home staff who’re nonetheless not protected “within normality”, however this doesn’t forestall her from highlighting the significance of closing the hole as quickly as potential. “It is a very important differential,” criticizes Sanz, when requested immediately concerning the 110,000 evaluations not carried out till November 30. Both consider that a number of non-compliances by the ministry itself affect this determine.

In March, 9 months in the past, the deadline that the ministry had given itself to develop a coaching platform on danger prevention for home staff expired, however it isn’t but obtainable. It additionally fails to satisfy the deadline that had been given for the event of an motion protocol in opposition to conditions of harassment and violence suffered by these professionals and to finish a technical information for danger prevention. Both paperwork ought to have been obtainable in September and there’s no hint of them. “They are very important elements for this rule to be complete and function correctly,” provides the CC OO union member.

The ministry acknowledges the delay within the coaching platform, declaring that the SEPE decision that regulates it’s prepared and that the service is already within the testing part, so will probably be operational initially of the 12 months. Regarding the protocol and technical information, it additionally confirms that they aren’t but obtainable, however highlights that their publication is imminent and underlines their technical complexity and consensus.

Membership has not fallen

One of the fears that employers expressed relating to this new proper for home staff is that it might deepen the lack of employment within the sector that has been recorded lately. Since 2019, world Social Security affiliation has grown by 12.6%, whereas that of home staff has plummeted by 13.9%. In an increasing labor market, this exercise is declining.

The Ministry of Labor believes that a part of the contraction within the home employee regime is because of the truth that some now work in firms that present these providers (which displaces them to different sectors on a statistical stage), whereas completely different skilled associations observe a rebound within the underground financial system. The predominant employer affiliation within the sector agrees with this evaluation: it believes that an important clarification is the development in working situations, amongst which it highlights the dizzying improve within the interprofessional minimal wage in a sector with out particular agreements (the SMI has grown by 61% since 2018, as much as 1,184 euros gross per thirty days) or the suitable to unemployment advantages from 2022 (which suggests a brand new expense in contributions for the employer).

That identical listing consists of the brand new proper to guage occupational dangers. But, in keeping with the newest obtainable information, this new responsibility on employers has not had a big influence on the amount of jobs. Also obtained after a request to Social Security via the transparency portal, the every day affiliation figures present that neither the week wherein the duty got here into power (November 14) nor within the instantly previous or subsequent weeks was there a big contraction within the affiliation of home staff. Membership habits doesn’t differ from final 12 months. “It is very good news that jobs have not been destroyed, but the trend is not good. I think there should be more incentives for families to hire,” concludes Garrido.