Spain: Redundancies and temporary lay-offs soar

The number of employees affected by redundancy and temporary lay-off procedures in Spain in the first quarter of 2009 was more than 20% higher than in the whole of 2008, with manufacturing industry particularly hard hit.

Spanish law obliges employers wishing to terminate or temporarily suspend employment contracts on economic or technological grounds to draw up an "employment regulation procedure" (Expediente de Regulación de Empleo, ERE), and apply to the labour authorities for authorisation.