Spain: Fewer redundancy procedures

According to the latest figures from the ministry of labour, it authorised "redundancy procedures" affecting 34,734 workers between January and October 2006, a fall of 37.8% on the figure for the same period in 2005. Under Spanish law, employers wishing to terminate or suspend employment contracts on economic or technological grounds must draw up a redundancy procedure (Expediente de Regulación de Empleo, ERE) and apply to the ministry for authorisation.