Labour Foundation for Construction

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Name of the instrument - Local language
Fundación Laboral de la Construcción
Name of the instrument - English translation
Labour Foundation for Construction
Scheme ID
76
Country
Spain
Reporting year
2020
Type of instrument
Training fund
Sub-type of instrument
Sectoral level collection and sectoral level distribution
Type of entry
Single instrument
Short description

Companies in the construction sector (as defined by NACE Rev. 2) have to pay a compulsory levy calculated as a percentage of payroll. The level of levy determined by the social partners' board members, and it is currently a 0.35% of the Social Insurance contribution bases for the period 2018-2021. These payments make up the budget of the Labour Foundation. The Labour Foundation for Construction develops its activities for sector companies, workers and the unemployed. For each of them, different activities and services are provided. The Foundation provides services for sector-related occupational health and safety (tutorials, OSH-related practical experiences, advisory services), employment promotion (including a job portal, recruitment and placement services, employment guidance or the development of the so-called Construction Professional Card), as well as other information-related services relevant for the sector (including the provision of studies on emerging sector skill needs, training manuals, sector analysis on different domains, etc). 100% of eligible costs can be covered. The idea is to make the Foundation a sectoral knowledge centre for the sector that diffuses this knowledge to the sector. Special treatment is given to some specific groups, particularly to unemployed workers. They can benefit from specific ad-hoc activities, including training-related ones.

Level of operation
Sectoral
Name of a part of the country
Not applicable
Name of the region (for regional instruments)
Not applicable
Name of the sector (for sectoral instruments)
NACE Rev 2, Section F (Construction)
Relevance
Further instrument
- General Statutes of the Labour Foundation for Construction (see https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1993-915); - VI Collective Agreement of the Construction Sector 2017-2021 (see https://www.iberley.es/convenios/sector/convenio-colectivo-general-cons…);
Objective(s) and target(s)
The mission of the Foundation is the provision of services to workers and companies integrated within General Agreement of the Construction Sector for the professionalization and development of the sector in Spain. This is done through the promotion of professional training, occupational health and safety and the improvement of employment within the Construction Sector.
Year of implementation
1993
Year of latest amendment
2016
Operation/management
The Labour Foundation for Construction is governed by a General Board ("Patronato" in Spanish) and an Executive Committee ("Comisión Ejecutiva" in Spanish) (elected by the General Board), both composed of representatives of social partners (main national employer association (National Confederation of the Construction) and two main national trade unions (CCOO of Construction and Services and UGT- Federation of Industry, Construction and Agro)) on an equal basis. Below them there is a General manager (in charge of managing the foundation) and several Unit Directions, all of them composed of professionals. In addition, and at regional level, each Autonomous Community has got a so-called Territorial Council (Consejo Territorial in Spanish), composed by representatives of regional social partners and in charge of the execution of activities at regional level. There are Territorial managers, in charge of managing the daily activities of each Territorial Council
Eligible group(s)
The Labour Foundation for Construction develops its activities for sector companies, workers and unemployed. For each of them, different activities and services are provided.
Education and training eligible
The Foundation provides a number of sector-related services. To start with, and in relation to training activities, the Foundation has got 50 well-equipped Training Centres located in all the Spanish regions, where half of these centres have also OSH-related training facilities. These training centres organise and provide specific sector-related courses and training activities available for companies and workers (including unemployed). Also, the Foundation provides training services within the own premises of companies. Some of these courses are free for the user (either fully financed by the Foundation itself or by public national or regional subsidies), whereas in other cases companies and workers may benefit from the existing FUNDAE training credit for companies (through the application of Social Security bonuses) or they just pay for these services. These training related activities cover different areas, including OSH-related issues, work/profession related issues or management-related issues and are provided via different tools (class attendance, on-line, etc). Also, the Foundation develops training-related consultancy services for companies (basically intended at identifying individual training needs and required training itineraries).
Source of financing and collection mechanism
Companies belonging to the Construction SECTOR (NACE Rev 2, Section F) have to pay a compulsory levy calculated as a percentage of Payroll (this levy is determined by the Social partners' Board members, and it is a 0.35% of the Social Insurance contribution bases for the period 2018-2021, to be paid in addition to the compulsory social security contribution paid by all companies for vocational education and training purposes (see FUNDAE). All companies subject to the General Collective Agreement of the Construction sector have to pay this levy. The payment has to be actively done by companies, and it is not automatically deducted from them by the Foundation. The Foundation has established several tools to facilitate this payment. In 2019, approximately 55% of total sector companies representing a 70% of total sector employment had paid this levy. In addition to this, the Foundation benefits from other funding sources, including public EU, national and regional funds plus income from commercial activities (ad-hoc training activities, OSH-related services, employment promotion services, other information-related services) with enterprises, workers (including unemployed ones) and other agents.
Financing formula and allocation mechanisms
The Foundation collects a compulsory levy from sector companies subject to the Sector Collective Agreement and calculated as a 0.35% of the Social Insurance contribution bases for the period 2018-2021. In addition to this, the Foundation benefits from other funding sources, including public EU, national and regional funds plus income from commercial activities with enterprises, workers (including unemployed ones)and other agents (ad-hoc training activities, OSH-related services, employment n-related services). With all this funding, the Foundation organises a large number of activities in different domains. Specifically in the training domain, the Foundation self-finances some training activities for workers (primarily unemployed) in Prevention of Occupational risks that are free for participants, as well other free on-line short courses (3-6 hours) in different sector-related domains. For the other training activities organised by the Foundation, enterprises and individuals (workers and unemployed) benefit from other FUNDAE and/or public funding possibilities or or they pay for these services.
Eligible costs
The Labour Foundation for Construction organises a large number of activities in different domains. Specifically in the training domain, the Foundation self-finances several free training activities in the topic of Prevention of Occupational risks for workers and a supply of on-line short courses (3-6 hours) in different sector-related domains (available for workers and unemployed under certain conditions). For these activities, eligible costs typically include the tuition fees and training materials. For the other training activities organised by the Foundation, enterprises and individuals (workers and unemployed) benefit from other FUNDAE and/or public funding possibilities or they just pay for these services.
Volumes of funding
The funding of the Labour Foundation for Construction has experienced an upward trend (EUR 53 100 000, EUR 66 377 000 and EUR 73 531 160 in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively). Three main funding sources can be identified, this is, i) income from the training levy paid by the companies, ii) income from public funds (including EU, national and regional funds) and, finally, iii) funding from commercial activities (selling training and other OSH-related, employment-related or information-related services) to enterprises, workers and other agents. These three sources of finance represent approximately 52%, 28% and 20% of the total funding, respectively and for year 2019. Concerning the allocation of funds, and according to data for 2019, approximately 61% of funds were spent on training activities (as a whole, including grants, etc), and 11% were spent on the Foundation administration. Meanwhile, the remaining 20% and 8% were spent on other activities carried out by the Foundation, this is, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) promotion and Employment promotion activities, respectively. These figures are relatively similar to previous years
Beneficiaries/take up
According to the available data, the Labour Foundation for Construction had a total of 94 858 participants in training activities during 2019 (86 749 in 2018 and 75 339 in 2017). The largest part of these participants were men (93%), from medium age (79% between 26 and 55 years old) and from Spanish origin (80%), data for 2019 (no significant changes with previous years). Also, approximately 56% of these participants were employed workers in comparison to 44% unemployed). The largest share of people were trained in OSH-related activities (75%, also data for 2019).
Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation
Labour Foundation for Construction
Most relevant webpage - in English
https://www.fundacionlaboral.org/
Most relevant webpage - local language
https://www.fundacionlaboral.org/
Recent changes

No relevant amendments. If any, it is worth mentioning that the Foundation introduced in 2016 a new Strategic Plan for the period 2016-2020 (see https://www.fundacionlaboral.org/actualidad/noticias/redirect/el-patron…). The introduction of a new Strategic Plan for the period 2016-2020 relates to the need to strategically guide the activities of the Foundation for the coming years.

Recent changes in response to COVID-19

Increased attention to the provision of teletraining, increased supply of teletraining-based courses (for instance, the free short on line courses for workers and unemployed have been extended to those workers/unemployed workers who do not have the so-called Professional Card of Construction, issued by the Foundation itself. Also, and due to the pandemic situation, the Spanish government has issued several Royal decrees waiving the payment of the levy to certain companies particularly affected by the crisis and in situations of temporary redundancies of employees (see Royal Law- Decrees 8/2020, 18/2020 and 24/2020)

Sources
https://www.fundacionlaboral.org/
Courses supply: https://www.cursosenconstruccion.com/
General Statutes of the Labour Foundation for Construction (see https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1993-915)
VI Collective Agreement of the Construction Sector 2017-2021 (see https://www.iberley.es/convenios/sector/convenio-colectivo-general-cons…)
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