SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, December 12. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The campaign to reinforce the Labor Inspection, which has included a team of 23 Labor and Social Security inspectors and Labor sub-inspectors of Employment and Social Security who came from other autonomous communities, has made it possible to improve the working conditions of 426 people in the Canary Islands who They were not registered with Social Security or they worked with irregular contracts.
During the three weeks that the campaign has lasted, the reinforcement team has made a total of 940 visits, 361 of them at night and on holidays. These inspections have made it possible to detect fraud in 205 part-time contracts, forcing the employers of the affected workers to extend their working hours and, consequently, to raise their salaries and contributions. In addition, the inspection has managed to transform 66 temporary contracts into permanent ones.
281 submerged jobs have emerged, 96 of them due to lack of registration with Social Security, 58 correspond to women and 38 to men. In addition, 29 non-EU foreigners without work permits have been identified. To these surfaced submerged jobs are added the assumptions of 156 workers with a part-time contract who saw their working hours increased by more than 50%. 16 files were also opened for obstruction. From January to October of this year, the inspection action revealed 3,355 undeclared jobs in the Canary Islands.
The data have been released within the framework of the Autonomous Operational Commission of the Labor and Social Security Inspection of the Canary Islands, which has met to analyze the actions carried out in the current year and program the objectives for 2024.
The Plan for next year includes 35,791 service orders divided into five areas: prevention of occupational risks, employment and labor relations, social security, irregular economy and work of foreigners and other actions.
The powers of the Government of the Canary Islands focus on the first two, risk prevention and labor relations, which represent 51.35% of the total planned actions, with specific campaigns against fraud in contracting.
Actions regarding working hours, overtime and breaks will be aimed mainly at the sectors in which a greater number of irregularities are detected. In this area, specific campaigns are contemplated to control working time and the registration of the day.
Another of the actions that the Labor Inspection will focus on in 2024 is related to monitoring the compliance of companies required to hire a minimum percentage of people with disabilities and the working conditions in special employment centers.
WORK WELL-BEING
The Government of the Canary Islands, through the Ministry of Tourism and Employment, will give priority to inspection actions to protect the life and physical integrity of workers. Furthermore, the head of the area, Jessica de León, recalled that “we will dedicate special attention to the mental health of workers, we are no longer going to talk about occupational health, but rather about occupational well-being.”
Actions in the construction sector will be reinforced. In total, 1,970 service orders are planned in this field. Likewise, campaigns will be carried out in the maritime sector, such as the one focused on fishing vessels and one to control risks in agricultural activity.
Actions to prevent musculoskeletal risks will also continue. In 2024, 540 actions will be scheduled in the sectors in which a greater number of work accidents due to overexertion were detected and in the companies in which requests were made this year. A specific campaign is also contemplated in the activity of housekeepers.
The regional Executive, in coordination with the Labor Inspection, will also carry out controls on psychosocial risks.
