Paritarian Social Funds in the Construction Industry

Fundación Laboral de la Construcción

COUNTRY

SPAIN

Type of fund

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

ADDRESS

Alberto Alcocer 46 B, planta 7, ES - 28016 Madrid

WEBSITE

www.fundacionlaboral.org - www.lineaprevencion.com
- www.trabajoenconstruccion.com

CONTACT

Mr. David de Teresa Escolar (OSH expert)
Tel : +34 (0) 91398450 - Fax : +34 (0) 913984525 - ddeteresa@fundacionlaboral.org

General Information Employee Group Covered Eligibility Employee contributions Employer contributions Public Financing  Information to Employees Training activities and proposed course framework Teaching products Other activities Information dissemination Regulatory and supervisory authorities Additional information

General Information

Presentation

Fundación Laboral de la Construcción is a non-profit private foundation set up in 1992 as a consequence of the Convenio General (Collective Agreement) of the Spanish construction industry. Due to its legal foundation status, the FLC is run by the most representative trade unions and employers’ organizations of the Spanish construction industry.

Organization

Fundación Laboral de la Construcción is ruled by a board who names an Executive Commission and a CEO. Nevertheless it has a regionally decentralised management system, delegating the execution of its duties to 17 regional boards nationwide.

Board composition

As a non-profit bipartite organization, the board is paritarian: 26 members from employers’ confederation and 26 members from trade unions.

Regulatory framework

IV. National Collective Agreement of the Spanish Construction Industry

Employee Group Covered

All workers of the building industry including part-timers.

Eligibility

Compulsory training schemes for all workers of the construction industry

Employee contributions

No employee contributions

Employer contributions

The percentage corresponding to the employers’ contribution is fixed by the National Collective Agreement: 0,175% of their employees’ salary mass.

Public Financing

Yes, public funds –public subsidies- represent about 70% of total income.

Information to Employees

Information provided to employees regards with labour guidance, improving their qualification through H&S and vocational training, access to quality jobs, measures of safety and health at worksites, and reaching the Professional Card of the Construction Industry.

We provide information to employees through our corporate web sites, advertising in mass media, accomplishment of sectorial campaigns, own magazine and newsletters, SMS sending, fairs and events, mobile classrooms, etc.

Training activities and proposed course framework

Type of trainings

Vocational training, including both continuous and occupational training.

Additionally, professional secondary education in the construction field is provided in specific regions.

More than 50% of our trainees are trained on Health and Safety. In this case, the National Collective Agreement establishes two types of training:

- Initial: “Aula permanente”.
- Specific: depending on the types of works developed.

Additionally, 45% of our trainees acquire skills related to the construction trades.

Other courses are related to management.

Period of training courses

From 6 to 1500 hours.

Compulsory or voluntary schemes?

Most of the H&S training is compulsory in order to reach a job in the construction industry in Spain.

Exams

Training managing tower cranes and travelling cranes is compulsory as well. There is always at least an exam at the end of the training.  Furthermore continuous assessment, practical exams, assignments, progressive theoretical exams and final projects/works are frequently part of our course assessment system.

Cards and certificates

Tower crane and travelling crane cards to manage these machines.

Construction Industry Professional Card (TPC) to work in the construction industry since January 1st 2012.

Financing of the training programs

There are two ways of financing this training: industry contribution (a compulsory levy) and public subsidies from both State and Regional Governments.

Teaching products

Textbooks, teaching guides, student guides, online campus, DVDs, simulators, machinery and tools –when required-, protection equipments, etc.

They are financed by two ways: our equity and Public Subsidies.

Other activities

Employment office, labour guidance, health and safety promotion construction sites, advisory service to construction companies on labour health and safety, acquisition of the professional card, approval of the health and safety training provided by other institutions, carrying out R&D projects on both training and health and safety, participating in the industrial observatory for the construction industry, etc. They are financed by two ways: our equity and public subsidies.

Information dissemination

Information about our products is disseminated through the corporate web sites, own magazine and newsletter, SMS sending, advertising in mass media, accomplishment of sectorial campaigns, fairs and events participation, etc.

Regulatory and supervisory authorities

Activities of Fundación Laboral de la Construcción are designed according to the employer’s associations and trade unions guidelines, and these institutions supervise these activities.

As a foundation, our activities are regulated and supervised by the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Immigration.

Additional Information

As a consequence of the Law 32/2006, which regulates the outsourcing in the construction industry, as well as the requirements established in the current Construction Industry Collective Agreement for the period 2007-2011, Fundación Laboral de la Construcción is in charge of developing and issuing the Construction Industry Professional Card (TPC).

The TPC is a card by means of which workers demonstrate, among other information, their training on health and safety in accordance with the mentioned Collective Agreement, their experience in construction industry and their professional qualification. The TPC will be mandatory for the workers in the construction industry from January 1st 2012.