I'll have to change this blog title to how to get the hell outta here.

Welcome back boys and girls. I've been fired in what we Spaniards call an "ERE" (wikipedia is your friend).

But I cannot ressit to make some comments about the new magnific piece of labor legislation the Spanish Goverment passed. Basically from having an state backed severage package, we pass to just have some money if we get fired for whatever reason.

Let me say: this will make problems to employers and employees. And the Spanish economy. I suggest you take a look at the new developments. They are fun.

There are real known damages to the worker rights, and unforeesen damages to employers.

Apparently nobody thougth that since a worker can be fired with almost no reason (and still making what we make in Spain, I'd have not problem if I were making 60.000/year) workers can be fired almost "freely" unless they are in an union and so the union takes care of the costs of legally showing that the employee was actually fired for no actual reason and so the employer has to take him/her back in payroll.

I think this is the most stupid reform that I have seen in a long time. Probably it was set up by some intern in the "The Economist" thingking that liberal and free markets are great for the "My-ass-hitchess" syndrome and anything else in the world.

Countries are actully so different one from each other...

Spain will suffer from this reform because it is not a "FREE MARKET" to start with. If you had an environment of several opposing companies fighting with each other for survival... this may have worked even in Spain. But that is not the case. Productivity is a problem in Spain and workers have some say into it (long lunches, alcohol consuption during working hours, ...) and management has a lot more to say into it.

There are lots of ways to fire people in Spain and even with what I get for being fired, that is less than what they pay in England, USA, France, Finland.... as a normal salary.

I rather have free firing but get paid twice what I make now each month. Wait,... no twice what I make... well, then there's no deal.