Crimes against workers’ rights in Spain
Article 311 of the Spanish Criminal Code establishes the crime of violation of workers’ rights, which includes the employment of unregistered workers. The employment of unregistered workers without work permit is considered a crime against workers’ rights. Nevertheless, according to the above, the employment of illegal workers is usually punishable by a fine, except in very serious cases.
Therefore, the Penal Code states that only a large number of illegal workers is considered a crime. If only few illegal workers are hired individually, then it is not a crime, but only an administrative fine is imposed.
The law states that if a company has between 6 and 10 workers, then all of them must be illegal workers in order to be considered a crime.
If the number of workers is between 11 and 100, half of the workers must be illegal workers to be considered a violation of workers’ rights.
The standard punishment for a workers’ rights violation is six months to six years in prison.
Recidivism in hiring illegal workers
Article 311, Rule 2 of the Penal Code states that if the illegal worker is hired repeatedly, then regardless of the number of hires, it will be considered as crime of multiple hiring.
According to the law, the penalty for repeatedly hiring illegal workers is 3 months to 18 months in prison or a fine of 12 months to 30 months.
Related article: Penalties for hiring illegal immigrants
