Abel Losada claims the key role of the Labour Inspectorate: “There is only economic and social progress starting from decent work”

The Government’s deputy delegate, Abel Losada, highlighted his institutional commitment to the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate during his visit to the provincial headquarters, located in Vigo, where he held a meeting with the director, Ana Pouso Lijó, and the three heads of the Provincial Inspection areas, the National Anti-Fraud Office Unit and the Occupational Risk Prevention Unit.
Losada, also accompanied by the Secretary General of the Subdelegation, Isabel Alonso de Linaje, toured the facilities and knew all the resources of the institution of the Inspection, which he described as “essential for the rules to be complied with and respected in the purchase of work, something that is fundamental for a Government such as the current one, absolutely committed to the defense of the working class through measures that imply real advances to our rights.” “The role of the Labor Inspectorate is key to making our province fairer and more prosperous, because no territory advances from precariousness, but from decent work.” “Not recently from Spain,” he explained, “it was decided to cut the rights of working people, but fortunately, today we have a radically different vision and the labor inspectors are essential to carry it out.” “There is only economic and social progress based on decent work,” he concludes.
The subdelegate advocated in this regard for the reinforcement of the campuses so that the Inspectorate can operate fully and, by link, took note of the needs of adaptation and improvement of the facilities of Carrer Cánovas del Castillo, where almost 80 people serve among Labour and Social Security inspectors, labour subinspectors (of the Employment and Social Security and Risk Prevention scales) and administrative and management personnel.
I do not review the different areas, the results of the campaigns related to effective equality between women and men were reported. Thus, in the fight against the salary gap, a great step was taken, with a total of 168 inspection actions carried out during the past year 2023, which represents an increase of almost 230% over the previous exercise. In this campaign, sanctions amounting to 12,752 euros were imposed on companies in the province that were caught discriminating against their workers. In addition, the reception that Royal Decree 901/200 is having, which obliges companies of more than 50 workers to implement an Equality Plan, was valued. A measure that entered into force in 2022 and that had a rapid implementation in the province of Pontevedra, as shown by the data. Thus, in the control campaign carried out during the past year, 2023, with a total of 57 inspections, no punishable infractions were detected. This had not been the case in 2022, when the 88 proceedings were translated into sanctioning files valued at 28,759 euros. The review concluded with the results of the campaign on sexual and gender-based harassment, which resulted in 51 actions last year, with a result of 60,000 euros in penalties.
The intense schedule of actions of the Provincial Labour Inspectorate during the past year was made up of more than 30 specific campaigns during the past year to focus on safety in the construction, marine-fishing or agrarian sectors. But also on issues such as musculoskeletal risks of floor waitresses or occupational risks in the work of children. In the area of Vixilouse Employment, fraud in hiring, the integration of disabled people, the control of working time with the registration of working hours and overtime or the control of salary conditions, among other issues. The Social Security area carried out campaigns on compatibility of work activity with incompatible benefit collection, simulations of discharge for improper access to benefits, improper increases in the contribution bases and controls on the bonuses received by companies. Finally, in the area of Irregular Economy and Foreigners, the spotlight was placed on the working conditions of the scholarship holders, non-work practices and false self-employed workers (both in distribution platforms and in the rest of the activity), as well as other specific actions in collaboration with the Prosecutor’s Office and other authorities.