Joaquín Aparicio Tovar, professor emeritus UCLM "The labor reform has meant a historic change"

He was a professor of labor law at the Complutense University of Madrid, professor at the University of Castilla La Mancha and dean of the Faculty of Labor Relations of this university. He has been “academic visitor” at the London School of Economics and Political sciences, visiting professor at Univerity College of Cardiff. Invited Professor at the University of Bologna, and visiting professor at the University of Trento.

We are faced with a recent labor reform, what has this radical change in the types of labor contracts meant for society? Do you think that the labor reform is appropriate and was necessary? Could it have an impact on the drop in unemployment that we have currently?__ _HTMLTAG39___ ___

The labor reform that came into full force this year, 2022, has represented a historic change in the successive reforms of labor legislation.

Since the approval in 1980 of the Workers' Statute, this standard has undergone more than 50 modifications. The most important reforms were those of 1994 and 2012. The justification for most of them was to fight against unemployment and to this end the reforms affected the three moments of the employment relationship, that is, at its beginning or entry into work, its development and its end. At the beginning of the employment relationship, temporary hiring was offered as a measure to combat unemployment by separating it from a cause. Which means that temporary contracts could be made for permanent needs of the companies.

In the development of the employment relationship, the employer's powers to modify the working conditions were increased and at the end of the employment contract, the guarantees against dismissal were weakened. It was said that flexibility had to be achieved in the face of the rigidity produced by conferring rights on the person who works and to do so the powers of the employer were increased. The underlying idea was to blame labor law for the increase in unemployment, although the facts never demonstrated such a thing, the reality is that the labor law has little impact on the increase or decrease in employment. There are many other factors. For example, with the same labor standards in some autonomous communities of Spain, such as the Basque Country, there has always been less unemployment than in others such as the Canary Islands or Andalusia.

The 2021-2022 reform is quite complex but the central objective is to recover the principle of stability in employment and opt for an indefinite employment contract. The facts show that this reform has been a success since the number of fixed-term employment contracts has decreased dramatically and permanent ones have correspondingly increased.At the same time, employment has improved its data, there are currently more than 20,000,000 people employed, which shows that it is false that a more guaranteeing standard for the person who works causes unemployment.

What is your opinion of the role that MCSS play in today's society? Do you think it is correct and necessary that there be this division in the different benefits between the MCSS and the INSS?

The assistance of the MCSS is justified by an old Spanish tradition, which had to do with the special way of insuring work accidents and occupational diseases, which is the exclusive responsibility of the employer. Although in principle the damages suffered by the worker due to a work accident or a common accident are the same, the greater protection that the consequences derived from work accidents or occupational diseases have is justified by the objective of contributing to a safe and healthy work environment.

Mutuas have an important role in this aspect.

You have written a good number of books, all at a key moment for the advancement and development of the subject in which you are a specialist. How have you been able to combine teaching with your role as a writer?

The University consists of precisely that, a combination of research and teaching. Research is what differentiates the university from medium-level institutes and teaching is what distinguishes it from institutes dedicated exclusively to research such as the Higher Council for Scientific Research.

What happens is that today, in order to pursue a professional career at the university, research is valued more than teaching, and there are also cases, fortunately not too many, in which some professors, having reached a stable position, stop researching and publishing or do so in a very limited way.

Do you consider that reality moves faster than the law? Is jurisprudence enough?

What the legal norm tries to do is channel and solve problems that arise in society. There are certainly times when this objective is achieved and other times it is not, in part due to the poor quality of the standards. We must not forget, on the other hand, that the legal norm has a constitutive effect not infrequently and creates new situations, anticipating social changes or forming a new reality, such as the case of the labor reform that we have talked about before.

There are currently sectors with a lot of job offers and few job seekers, such as hospitality and construction. Do you think this will become a problem in the medium term? In your opinion, how could it be corrected?

I think there are two possible solutions, firstly, improving working conditions, that is, enforcing the rules regarding working time and breaks and wages.This has special significance in the hospitality industry where some companies do not comply with labor standards, especially with those regarding working time, salaries and, correspondingly, with their Social Security obligations. These companies degrade the image of the sector and harm the many that do comply with the legality. They also create unfair competition. Secondly, linked to the above, improving the professional training and qualifications of these workers, which also increases the dignity of these jobs.

Good working conditions and good professional qualifications would most likely contribute to alleviating the deficiency of workers in these sectors.

Currently, teleworking is a work model widely implemented in our society as a result of the pandemic, do you think it will help reduce work accidents, or on the contrary will new forms of work accidents emerge? work?

Teleworking has its advantages but also serious drawbacks. Disadvantages include the fact that it favors the individualization or lack of sociability of workers. The advantages would be that it favors the reduction of pollution in cities by reducing the mobility of workers. It can also contribute to the reconciliation of professional and family life, but it could also make it difficult because with teleworking, controlling work time can be much more difficult.

I don't exactly see that it can increase workplace accidents, since the problems of the use of new technologies that can generate certain occupational diseases are also widespread in traditional workplaces. Certainly accidents in itinere would disappear in a high number.

For those who do not know, the Minimum Living Income was launched in June 2020, so it has been implemented in our Social Security system as a non-contributory pension for just over two years. In your opinion, is it fully implemented and available to the people who need it?

The creation of the IMV should be seen as a good step forward in the fight against marginalization and poverty, objectives sponsored by the EU. What happens is that the requirements and the processing to obtain the benefit have been seen to be cumbersome and difficult for many people who are precisely in those situations. The simplification of procedures and qualification of requirements is necessary.

The recently published Royal Decree 789/2022, of September 27, approves the compatibility of the IMV with income from work or self-employed economic activity. There is a difference of opinions on this new requirement, could you give us yours?

I think that the compatibility in the terms established by the aforementioned standard is correct because the benefits are very low and by themselves they would not lift us out of poverty. Allowing compatibility with work maintains a link with active life that is very beneficial from my point of view.