With the start of the “new school year” after the summer break, it is a good time to evaluate the fulfilment of the main labor obligations of companies. In this post we review the specific and most relevant ones of companies with 50 or more employees.
In recent years, new obligations have been introduced in the workplace that companies with 50 or more employees must comply with, highlighting those related to equality in different areas.
The start of a “new school year” is an ideal time to remember these main specific obligations, which we explain below:
- Equality obligations (more information here):
- Equality plan. Companies with 50 or more employees must negotiate an equality plan with the workers’ representatives, that includes measures to guarantee effective equality between men and women. The basis for the definition of these measures is the diagnosis of the situation, which must also be negotiated with said representatives. The procedure for action against sexual and gender-based harassment is part of the negotiation of the equality plan (although not its mandatory content).
- Remuneration audit. The equality plan must include the remuneration audit. The purpose of this is to analyze whether the remuneration system complies with the principle of effective equality and, where appropriate, to identify and correct those aspects in which objective and egalitarian criteria are not being applied in remuneration. To carry it out, an evaluation of the jobs is needed to base it on.
- Wage register. All companies must have a wage register, but where they have at least 50 employees, if the average remuneration of one sex is 25% or more higher than that of the other, the register must contain a justification that this difference is due to reasons other than the sex of the employees. In addition, the register of these companies must reflect arithmetic and median averages of the groupings of jobs of equal value in the company and the aforementioned justification if the average or median of the total remuneration is higher in one sex than the other by at least 25%.
- Measures relating to the LGBTI community. Law 4/2023 created the obligation for companies with more than 50 workers to have a planned set of measures and resources to achieve real and effective equality for LGBTI people. These measures must be adopted through collective negotiation and must include a protocol of action for dealing with harassment or violence against LGBTI people. More information here.
- Internal information system. In accordance with Law 2/2023, of 20 February, regulating the protection of people that report regulatory and anti-corruption breaches, companies with 50 or more employees must have an internal information system that allows them to report possible breaches within their scope of application.
This system must integrate all the internal channels used in the company, such as those regulated in the prevention protocols against the different types of harassment that may occur in the company (work, sexual or gender-based harassment and against the LGBTI community).
Since September 1, 2025, the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, A.A.I., has been in operation, and it is necessary to notify the appointments and dismissals of those responsible for the companies’ internal information system. We will have to be aware of possible developments on how to make notifications.
- Quota for the reservation of jobs for people with disabilities. At least 2% of jobs in companies with 50 or more employees must be occupied by people with disabilities.
Companies may request the administrative authority an authorization to apply any of the following alternative measures provided for by law:
- The hiring of a special employment center or a self-employed worker with a disability, for (i) the supply of raw materials, machinery, capital goods or any other type of goods necessary for the normal development of the activity of the company that opts for this measure or (ii) the provision of services outside and ancillary to the ordinary activity of the company.
- Making financial donations to foundations or associations that promote the training and employment of people with disabilities.
- The set-up of a labor enclave through the signing of a contract with a special employment center under the terms of Royal Decree 290/2004, of 20 February, which regulates labor enclaves as a measure to promote the employment of people with disabilities.
Note: This post does not contain a comprehensive list of the legal obligations in the labor field that every company must comply with, nor does it include obligations for the prevention of occupational risks or regarding the workers’ representatives. We identify only primary and specific obligations for companies with a workforce of 50 or more employees.
Marta Castro Rodríguez
