Press Release
THE DEVELOPMENT OF “PERSONAL SERVICES” AS A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY FOR JOB CREATION, SUPPORT FOR WORK–LIFE BALANCE, AND A SOURCE OF SOCIAL WELL-BEING
Madrid, June 7, 2016
Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations—CEOE
50 Diego de León, Madrid
Speakers
Mr. Javier Benavente, President of the Spanish Association of Personal Services (AESP), who emphasized that we are at a time of great change and facing a sector—the personal services sector—that can generate a large number of jobs.
Opening of the conference –
Ms. Ana Plaza Arregui – Secretary-General of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the host organization, who highlighted the importance of ensuring that the entire population has access to these services.
Panel 1: European perspectives and experiences in the Home Services sector – Personal Services – SAP as well as the proposals of the trade unions, businesses, and international organizations (ILO).
Moderator: Mr. José Félix Cañas -
Commercial and Marketing Director, AXA Assistance Spain
Mr. Jean-François Lebrun, who holds a degree in Economics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, is a delegate of the Directorate-General of the Treasury and an adviser to the Director for Employment Policies, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission on Personal and Household Services within the Europe 2020 Employment Strategy. He is currently seconded to the Directorate-General of the Treasury of the French Ministry of Finance and Public Accounts, where he advises the Deputy Director responsible for Social and Employment Policies.
An expert on sector policies, he spoke about tax policies that facilitate users' access to these services within the formal economy and about combating the underground economy in the sector.
In turn
He explained how personal services help all groups and emphasized that employment policies and social policies can be combined.
For him, there are many groups that need help: older people, children, people with disabilities... Consequently, the market niche is very broad. He also advocated the need to tackle the black market so that customers do not have to pay high prices and can obtain services legally and with guarantees. He explained that training initiatives for workers in the sector are necessary, as the sector must be professionalized and the services provided by workers must be of the highest quality.
Mr. Ruperto Iglesias García, who holds a degree in Economics from the University of Santiago de Compostela, currently serves, in addition to his work as a consultant and financial auditor, as President of the Confederation of Spanish Worker-Owned Companies (CONFESAL) and of the Association of Asturian Worker-Owned Companies (ASATA), the employers’ organization for Asturias’s social economy.
In his presentation, he outlined the conclusions of the BESPAT Project, one of the programs funded by the
Progress Programme this year in the personal services sector. Its objective is to analyze best practices that contribute to efficiency in service delivery, promoting job creation in personal and household services.
Mr. Vicente Sánchez
PhD in Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid, Professor of Economics at UCM since the 2011–2012 academic year, and a member of the editorial board of the journal Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, he has completed several master’s degrees in labor relations and human resources in business. He currently serves as Secretary-General of CCOO Construction and Services, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO).
Mr. Vicente stressed that we are dealing with a female-dominated sector and that there is no other sector as deregulated as this one. It would be a sector that, strictly speaking, does not exist, in the sense that it comprises highly fragmented activities, but is nevertheless real, since a very high proportion of domestic workers are still not registered with the Social Security system. For this specific activity alone, around 300,000 people would still be working in the informal economy. He emphasized the need to ratify ILO Convention No. 189, to ensure full recognition of these workers’ labor rights, because the fact that most activities in the sector take place in private homes should not be an excuse to avoid proper regulation. He also highlighted the importance of companies’ activity in the sector in this regard.
Mr. Bernardo Soto, Head of the Tax Area—Department of Economic and European Affairs of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations—CEOE. Head of the Tax Area and Secretary of the CEOE Tax Commission. Degree in Law and Economics. Master's degree in Corporate Legal Advice from the Instituto de Empresa. Lawyer specializing in tax law with 25 years of professional experience.
He told us that tax measures can promote families' access to Personal Services, fostering business development in this sector. For Mr. Bernardo, the problem of the informal economy stems from demand requiring low prices and being managed inefficiently.
Panel 2: Policies to promote the creation of legal, quality employment in the Home Services sector (Personal Services—SAP) and address the unstoppable entry of new players into the sector (the Collaborative Economy).
Moderator: Mr. Aurelio López-Barajas, CEO of SUPER Cuidadores.
Ms. María Luisa Cardedo the PSOE's current Secretary for Social Welfare, holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Oviedo and a diploma in Occupational Medicine. A primary care physician in the Asturias Health Service, she has served as Regional Director of Public Health of the Principality of Asturias, Minister of the Environment and Urban Planning of the Principality of Asturias, and President of the State Agency for Evaluation of Public Policies and the Quality of Services (AEVAL).
Ms. María Luisa also emphasized that this is a sector that needs to be regulated, as well as the need for a legal framework that supports it.
She also agreed with the other speakers on the importance of promoting the professionalization of the sector.
Ms. Begoña Villacís, Law degree from San Pablo CEU University and a Master's degree in Tax Advice, Tax Law from Pontifical Comillas University. She has worked as a lawyer in Spain and the United States. She has been a speaker in various programs, such as the 2012 Labor Reform, and a columnist for different media outlets.
She is currently spokesperson for the Ciudadanos Municipal Group on Madrid City Council and Secretary of Institutional Relations for Ciudadanos.
She spoke to us about the importance of work-family reconciliation, a major issue today for the effective integration of women into the labor market.
For Ms. Begoña, the person you bring into your home is the person you need to trust most; therefore, it is necessary to offer a quality service within a legal framework.
There is plenty of supply in this sector, but not enough specialized supply, and that is the source of a major problem: precariousness in the sector.
Mr. Carles Campuzano i Canadés, He holds a law degree from the University of Barcelona. In politics since his youth, he is currently a Member of Parliament for Catalan Parliamentary Group (Democracy and Liberty, DL) where he is the spokesperson on employment, social policy, among other areas. He is also President of the ACSAR Foundation, which addresses asylum and refugee issues while promoting equal rights.
He spoke to us about regulating Personal Services in a way that meets the requirements related to employment, development, and well-being for both users and workers in the sector.
For Mr. Carles, there is great demand for these services, but the supply needs to be better structured. When we talk about personal services, we are talking about work-life balance, job creation, and reducing the shadow economy, he stressed in his remarks.
Mr. Teófilo de Luis, graduate in Economics. Member of Parliament since 1995. Technical Secretary of the Popular Parliamentary Group from 1989 to 2012. Fourth Secretary of the Bureau of the Congress of Deputies since 2012. Member of the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee for the Toledo Pact Agreements from 24/02/2016 to 03/05/2016.
During the session, he highlighted the importance of policies that promote female employment and, like the other speakers, advocated providing quality, specialized services. In his view, this is a sector with endless possibilities, where many people live alone and numerous services can be provided. It is necessary to find the link between those offering something—in this case, a service—and the other person’s needs. The key is to reduce tax costs, he concluded.
Panel 3: The new reality of the collaborative economy as an alternative distribution system in the Personal Services sector (PS): The future and alternative legal regulation as a professional opportunity for self-employment and well-being.
Moderator: Ms. Anna Hurtado.
Mr. Albert Cañigueral, having studied Multimedia Engineering at the
Ramon Llull University, is interested in and focuses his activities on promoting the adoption of the collaborative economy as the founding entrepreneur and main editor of the Spanish-language blog http://www.consumcolaborativo.com and Connector in Barcelona for the European network http://www.ouishare.net
He spoke to us about how these new service providers in this particular sector can fit into the market, as well as the problems and possible solutions arising from their distinctive characteristics. He discussed the incredible growth in the volume of these new employment relationships in recent years, how the way traditional employment relationships are structured is changing, and how this change must be accompanied by a legal adjustment—general in some respects, but also sector-specific—to adapt to the different forms.
Mr. Sebastián Reyna Fernández. Degree in Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid. Currently Technical Director of the Institute for the Training of Self-Employed Workers (IFTA-UPTA).
Previously (1990–1998), Secretary of the Confederal Executive Committee of UGT (1982–1989), Director General of Cooperatives, Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Since 2001, he has continuously held the position of Secretary General of the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA), a confederation of territorial and sectoral organizations representing self-employed workers, micro-entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs from different sectors or branches of economic activity.
He spoke to us about the challenges involved in transforming the labor market through so-called peer-to-peer technology platforms. He emphasized the importance of ensuring that new entrepreneurs who want to begin a regulated activity in the sector can easily access and provide these services without facing prohibitive costs that might discourage them from getting started and establishing their business.
Effective regulation is achieved through the participation of all stakeholders involved, analyzing each type of company and providing specific solutions for the different models.
Press Release
THE DEVELOPMENT OF “PERSONAL SERVICES” AS A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY FOR JOB CREATION, SUPPORT FOR WORK–LIFE BALANCE, AND A SOURCE OF SOCIAL WELL-BEING
Madrid, June 7, 2016
Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations—CEOE
50 Diego de León, Madrid
Speakers
Mr. Javier Benavente, President of the Spanish Association of Personal Services (AESP), who emphasized that we are at a time of great change and facing a sector—the personal services sector—that can generate a large number of jobs.
Opening of the conference – Ms. Ana Plaza Arregui – Secretary-General of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), the host organization, who highlighted the importance of ensuring that the entire population has access to these services.
Panel 1: European perspectives and experiences in the Home Services sector – Personal Services – SAP as well as the proposals of the trade unions, businesses, and international organizations (ILO).
Moderator: Mr. José Félix Cañas - Commercial and Marketing Director, AXA Assistance Spain
Mr. Jean-François Lebrun, who holds a degree in Economics from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, is a delegate of the Directorate-General of the Treasury and an adviser to the Director for Employment Policies, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission on Personal and Household Services within the Europe 2020 Employment Strategy. He is currently seconded to the Directorate-General of the Treasury of the French Ministry of Finance and Public Accounts, where he advises the Deputy Director responsible for Social and Employment Policies.
An expert on sector policies, he spoke about tax policies that facilitate users' access to these services within the formal economy and about combating the underground economy in the sector.
In turn He explained how personal services help all groups and emphasized that employment policies and social policies can be combined.
For him, there are many groups that need help: older people, children, people with disabilities... Consequently, the market niche is very broad. He also advocated the need to tackle the black market so that customers do not have to pay high prices and can obtain services legally and with guarantees. He explained that training initiatives for workers in the sector are necessary, as the sector must be professionalized and the services provided by workers must be of the highest quality.
Mr. Ruperto Iglesias García, who holds a degree in Economics from the University of Santiago de Compostela, currently serves, in addition to his work as a consultant and financial auditor, as President of the Confederation of Spanish Worker-Owned Companies (CONFESAL) and of the Association of Asturian Worker-Owned Companies (ASATA), the employers’ organization for Asturias’s social economy.
In his presentation, he outlined the conclusions of the BESPAT Project, one of the programs funded by the Progress Programme this year in the personal services sector. Its objective is to analyze best practices that contribute to efficiency in service delivery, promoting job creation in personal and household services.
Mr. Vicente Sánchez
PhD in Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid, Professor of Economics at UCM since the 2011–2012 academic year, and a member of the editorial board of the journal Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, he has completed several master’s degrees in labor relations and human resources in business. He currently serves as Secretary-General of CCOO Construction and Services, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO).
Mr. Vicente stressed that we are dealing with a female-dominated sector and that there is no other sector as deregulated as this one. It would be a sector that, strictly speaking, does not exist, in the sense that it comprises highly fragmented activities, but is nevertheless real, since a very high proportion of domestic workers are still not registered with the Social Security system. For this specific activity alone, around 300,000 people would still be working in the informal economy. He emphasized the need to ratify ILO Convention No. 189, to ensure full recognition of these workers’ labor rights, because the fact that most activities in the sector take place in private homes should not be an excuse to avoid proper regulation. He also highlighted the importance of companies’ activity in the sector in this regard.
Mr. Bernardo Soto, Head of the Tax Area—Department of Economic and European Affairs of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations—CEOE. Head of the Tax Area and Secretary of the CEOE Tax Commission. Degree in Law and Economics. Master's degree in Corporate Legal Advice from the Instituto de Empresa. Lawyer specializing in tax law with 25 years of professional experience.
He told us that tax measures can promote families' access to Personal Services, fostering business development in this sector. For Mr. Bernardo, the problem of the informal economy stems from demand requiring low prices and being managed inefficiently.
Panel 2: Policies to promote the creation of legal, quality employment in the Home Services sector (Personal Services—SAP) and address the unstoppable entry of new players into the sector (the Collaborative Economy).
Moderator: Mr. Aurelio López-Barajas, CEO of SUPER Cuidadores.
Ms. María Luisa Cardedo the PSOE's current Secretary for Social Welfare, holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Oviedo and a diploma in Occupational Medicine. A primary care physician in the Asturias Health Service, she has served as Regional Director of Public Health of the Principality of Asturias, Minister of the Environment and Urban Planning of the Principality of Asturias, and President of the State Agency for Evaluation of Public Policies and the Quality of Services (AEVAL).
Ms. María Luisa also emphasized that this is a sector that needs to be regulated, as well as the need for a legal framework that supports it.
She also agreed with the other speakers on the importance of promoting the professionalization of the sector.
Ms. Begoña Villacís, Law degree from San Pablo CEU University and a Master's degree in Tax Advice, Tax Law from Pontifical Comillas University. She has worked as a lawyer in Spain and the United States. She has been a speaker in various programs, such as the 2012 Labor Reform, and a columnist for different media outlets.
She is currently spokesperson for the Ciudadanos Municipal Group on Madrid City Council and Secretary of Institutional Relations for Ciudadanos.
