According to the Ser this morning, the Spanish government has finally reached an agreement with private sector and trade unions with regard to the reform of Spanish immigration laws.<\/p>\n
The draft reform released by the Socialists las month met with fierce criticism because it encouraged illegal immigrants to give details of employers as part of the legalization process and even report them to police for illegal employment. The idea was that these employers would then have to offer the immigrants a legal contract, pay all the national health payments corresponding to the period of illegal employment, and face a fine. This meant that many illegal immigrants decided simply not to seek legalisation because they risked being fired by their employers.<\/p>\n
The new draft, based on recent negotiations with private sector and trade unions, states that illegal immigrants in Spain will be given three months to legalize their situation.<\/p>\n
Immigrants will be required to produce a \u00abprivate contract\u00bb between employee and employer, intended to prove the fact that the employee has been working in Spain for the past 6 months. Once granted residence and work permits, employers will be expected to offer their employees a legal contract, will have to pay national health payments corresponding to the last six months, and from the first day of the new legal contract onwards. Employers will not face fines or prosecution.<\/p>\n
Cadena Ser estimates that over 200.000 illegal immigrants living and working in Spain will benefit from these reforms.<\/p>\n