Luis Marzá of Marzá Consultores (Castellón): Legislation must be made to provide flexibility with guarantees
Luis Marzá de Marzá Consultores has a social degree from the University of Valencia, a master's degree in Social Labor Audit from ESADE (Barcelona) and a master's degree in Business Mediation from the European University. Since 1991 he has been a member of the College of Social Graduates of Castellón. In 1995 he began his business journey by creating the consultancy that bears his name, being a reference consultancy in the province. Since 1998 he has been a founding member of the National Association of Socio-Labor Auditors (CEAL), and in 2019 he began to act as a mediator of the Labor Arbitration Court of the Valencian Community.
How did the creation of Marzá Consultores come about 28 years ago?
Once the social graduate studies were completed, with the intention of entrepreneurship, the idea of opening a professional employment advice office was born.
Can you tell us a little about your experience as a mediator of the Labor Arbitration Court?
About mid-2019, the Business Confederation of the Valencia Community (CEV) proposed me as a mediator for the Labor Arbitration Court, a position that I accepted, since professionally I was very attracted to being able to mediate in collective conflicts in the Community. It represents a very important professional challenge, both because of the magnitude of the conflicts that are exposed there and because of the professional experience it offers you.
The Law on Business Creation and Growth has been in effect for some time now. Have you noticed the increase in the creation of companies due to the benefits it entails?
Within the field of labor advice we have not yet noticed it much, since the procedures within our field in the creation of companies have always been quite agile, both at the state and regional level. It must be taken into account that in terms of Social Security since the creation of the Red system, the majority of procedures are telematic with instant response.
What do you think of the new quotas for self-employed workers? Do you think this system benefits self-employed people with low incomes?
With the publication of Royal Decree 13/2022, which establishes a new contribution system in the Self-Employed Workers Regime, a great stir was created in the press. Most of us professionals considered that there would be an increase in the amount of contributions for the self-employed, but in reality, in principle for a high percentage of workers there has been no increase in contributions, so self-employed workers with low incomes will not obtain benefits with this system of quotation.
How has this change in quotes affected your client portfolio?Do you think the volume of work for your consultancy will increase due to the change in fees that is planned annually?
Every implementation of a new standard produces an increase in work for professional offices, the main and most complicated of which is having to inform our clients of the regulatory change and subsequently the work caused by being able to materialize said changes.
The minimum vital income has caught society's attention because in principle it was reaching a small percentage of the population, less than expected, now they have legislated around the compatibility of the minimum vital income with work income, do you think that in this way we can talk about a benefit within the reach of those who need it most?
It is good that the minimum vital income is compatible with income from work, although it is very difficult to be able to affirm that it is within the reach of the most needy.
It has been a year since the labor reform came into force, do you think it has meant a real improvement for workers?
I believe that the purpose was one but the reality is another, in my opinion the reform does not bring greater benefit to the workers. The purpose of the norm was to put an end to casual hiring, but we have transformed these temporary workers into discontinuous permanent workers, given that the working time and quote continues to be the same, we have only changed the name of the contract.
In your opinion, has it negatively affected companies? You are in permanent contact with them, how do they experience it?
When the majority of the industrial fabric of this country is made up of companies with less than 50 workers, legislation must be made so that labor contracting is more flexible and appropriate to the productivity of the companies. Legislation will have to be made to give companies greater flexibility in hiring and terminating contracts, always maintaining the guarantees and security of decent employment.
