The social security system in Spain first appeared in 1883 and has since been expanded and enshrined in the Spanish constitution to guarantee protection to citizens. It structures protections for employees, self-employed individuals, civil servants and more across various contingencies like healthcare, unemployment benefits, disability, retirement and more. Protections are provided on both a contributory basis for those working and carrying out occupational activities, and a non-contributory basis for dependents and residents.

1. SOCIAL SECURITY
SOCIAL SECURITY
The social security system in Spain is its principal system of social protection. The concept of social security
first appeared in Spain in 1883 under the Committee for Social Reform, it was expanded several times
during the twentieth century and finally the right to social security was enshrined in the Spanish
Constitution of 1978 under Article 41 which states "that the public authorities shall maintain a public social
security system for all citizens, guaranteeing sufficient support and social benefits in situations of need,
especially in the event of unemployment, and that the support and additional benefits shall be free".
The Spanish social security system is structured as follows:
1. General regulations, as most widely applied plus supplemental (stop-gap) others;
2. Special regulations that assess professional occupations by their nature, particular conditions of
time and place or the nature of production processes:
1. Agriculture,
2. Self-employed,
3. Domestic employees,
4. Coal miners
5. Port and sea workers
6. Civil Servants (Muface)
Scope of Protection
The purpose of social security is to guarantee to those people who fall within the scope of the act, (those
who carry out an occupational activity, or that meet the requirements of the non-contributory category,
such as family members or dependants for whom they have responsibility), adequate protection against
those contingencies and situations contemplated by the law.
The scope of the act for the contributory category, includes those Spanish nationals who reside in Spain,
and non-Spanish citizens who are residing or are staying legally in Spain, provided that in both cases they
are carrying out their activities on Spanish national territory, and covers:
• Employees
• Self-employed or sole proprietor businesses
• Members of Associated Work Co-operatives
• Students
• Civil Servants
Protection provided by social security will include (cover):
1. Healthcare (primary or hospitalisation) in the case of maternity, common, occupational illness or
accidents, whether or not occupational;
2. Professional care for said illnesses or accidents;
3. Benefits for the following:
• Temporary incapacity
• Maternity
• Death and survival
• And for both contributory and non-contributory schemes:

2. • Invalidity
• Retirement
• Unemployment
4. Employment retraining, rehabilitation of invalids and assistance for senior citizens;
5. Also, in addition to the above, other social service benefits.
In practise the non contributory category is understood to cover Spanish nationals resident in Spain.
WAGES
Payment methods
Managers can motivate staff by paying a fair wage. Payment methods include:
• Time rate: staff are paid for the number of hours worked.
• Overtime: staff are paid extra for working beyond normal hours.
• Piece rate: staff are paid for the number of items produced.
• Commission: staff are paid for the number of items they sell.
• Performance related pay: staff get a bonus for meeting a target set by their manager.
• Profit sharing: staff receive a part of any profits made by the business.
• Salary: staff are paid monthly no matter how many hours they work.
• Fringe benefits: are payments in kind, eg a company car or staff discounts.
Non-pay methods of motivation
Managers can motivate staff using factors other than pay through:
• Job rotation: staff are switched between different tasks to reduce monotony.
• Job enlargement: staff are given more tasks to do of similar difficulty.
• Job enrichment: staff are given more interesting and challenging tasks.
• Empowerment: staff are given the authority to make decisions about how they do their job.
• Putting groups of workers in a team who are responsible together for completing a certain task.
EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS
Staff are protected against age, sex, race or disability discrimination
To prevent exploitation, the government has passed a number of laws that safeguard staff:
• Workers are guaranteed a minimum hourly wage rate.
• Race, sex, age or disability discrimination is illegal. Businesses must be careful to treat all workers
fairly. They must offer equal pay and promotion opportunities for women and ethnic minorities.
• The EU Working Time Directive sets a limit on the number of hours staff can work in a week.
• Parents are entitled to paid leave from work soon after their children are born. The firms must
keep their post open for when they return from maternity or paternity leave.