A matter of fragmentation? Challenges for collective bargaining and employment conditions in the Spanish long-term care sector

The long-term care system in Spain has been characterised by decentralisation, marketisation, fiscal austerity and its reliance on informal family care and cheap migrant labour. Focusing on home-help services, this article addresses the extent to which the sector’s multi-level system of collective bargaining can be characterised as fragmented and whether this has had a negative effect on employment conditions. The research involved an analysis of the legal and collective bargaining framework, expert interviews and employee focus groups. We argue that the precedence given to sectoral agreements within public procurement processes is one main factor preventing a move towards ‘disorganised decentralisation’ in the aftermath of the 2012 labour market reform. Moderate decentralisation has favoured heterogeneity in pay and working conditions at regional and provincial levels. However, these mid-level collective agreements have improved standards with respect to the national collective agreement, and there has been a minor increase in the number of company-level collective agreements since the reform. The limited professionalisation, the lack of recognition of skills and effort in occupational classifications, and the organisation of working time emerge as key contributors to the sector’s poor employment conditions.