Colloquially known as the Trainee Statute, the draft bill aims to distinguish between training activities and employment activities and establish the legal regime applicable to those who undertake internships, traineeships and the like in companies, institutions or public or private organisations. This measure is based on the second additional provision of Royal Decree-Law 32/2021 of 28 December on urgent measures for labour reform, guaranteeing job stability and transforming the labour and employment market (Real Decreto-ley 32/2021, de 28 de diciembre, de medidas urgentes para la reforma laboral, la garantía de la estabilidad en el empleo y la transformación del mercado de trabajo).
According to a press release from the Spanish Ministry of Labour, the draft bills aims to establish a mandatory link between the internship and individual training plan based on the specific training of the intern, requiring that the company’s activities are directly related to the training content. Furthermore, the draft bill also foresees an express prohibition for trainees to replace permanent employees.
The goal is to give trainees access to workplace services, the right to rest, compensation for expenses and protection against violence and harassment. Additionally, their training is to be supervised, with a maximum of five (5) interns per supervisor, and the total number of trainees may not exceed 20% of the workforce.
The provision also aims to strengthen the role of the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate (ITSS), which will have access to the documents relating to internships and will carry out specific actions in this area. It also provides for the creation of a monitoring committee to supervise the correct application of the Trainee Statute in companies.
Although the law-in-the-making may appear to be a significant step forward, it should not be forgotten that it is still only a draft that has yet to make its way through the Spanish Houses of Parliament, and on top of that amidst the current political crisis in Spain. For this reason, the Trainee Statute might ultimately only be enacted with amendments or might never be passed and published in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE) at all, as has happened with draft law on the reduction of the work week.