Spain cuts severance pay in new labour reform

Spain cut severance pay for workers on Friday and watered down collective bargaining rights, giving more power to employers as it attempts to kick-start its moribund jobs market and slash Europe's highest unemployment rate. The centre-right government said it would abolish contracts allowing severance packages of 45 days' pay for every year worked to employees deemed to have been unfairly dismissed - a common finding by Spanish employment tribunals.
Instead, employers firing staff will have to offer just 33 days' pay per year, or 20 days if the business is facing losses over a sustained period.