The secretary of state for labour, formerly known as secretary of state for employment or secretary-general for employment, is a senior minister of the Spanish Ministry of Labour responsible implementing the government policy on labour and its relations, working conditions, unemployment benefits and promotion of employment and self-employment. It is also responsible for managing the European Union funds of the European Social Fund Plus.
The current secretary of state is Joaquín Pérez Rey, a University of Castilla–La Mancha professor and head of the University's Labour and Social Security Law Department.
History The position of Secretary of State for Labour was established in March 1981—named "of Employment and Labour Relations", when the ministries of Labour and of Health and Social Security were merged to form the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Security. The secretary of state assumed all the powers of the defunct Ministry of Labour and acted as Under-Secretary of the new government department.
A few months later, in December 1981, the short-lived ministry was split in two and the Secretariat of State for Employment and Labour Relations was downgraded to Undersecretariat. The Under-Secretary for Social Security assumed the responsibilities of Under-Secretary of the Ministry until February 1982, when they were restored to the Under-Secretary for Employment.
In December 1982 the position was abolished and replaced by the Ministry's Under-Secretary until 1985, when responsibilities regarding labour policy and the ministry's internal management were separated, and the position was re-established as "Secretary-General for Employment and Labour Relations".
In 2010, during the premiership of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the office was promoted again to Secretariat of State.
In 2020, the area of social economy was strengthened, with both the ministry and its state secretariat being named, and including this term in their name. Subsequently, in 2022 a Special Commissioner for the Social Economy would be created and, in 2023, these responsibilities were separated to create an independent State Secretariat.
Organization The Secretariat of State is organized as follows: +Secretariat of State Organization (2026)Secretary of StateCabinet (Chief of Staff)Administrative Unit of the European Social FundDeputy Directorate-General for Programming and Evaluation of the European Social FundDeputy Directorate-General for Statistics and Socio-Labour AnalysisLabour and Social Security InspectorateState Public Employment ServiceSalary Guarantee FundNational Institute for Safety and Health at WorkDirectorate-General forLabourDeputy Directorate-General for Labour RelationsDeputy Directorate-General for Regulatory PlanningDirectorate-General forSelf-EmploymentDeputy Directorate-General for Self-EmploymentDirectorate-General forNew Forms of EmploymentDeputy Directorate-General for New Forms of Employment and Labour Market Foresight
List of secretaries of state For the purpose of this list, the date used is the date on which the decree of appointment or dismissal received royal assent, which may differ from the date of publication or of the effective taking of office. NameTerm Government Start End DurationPrime MinisterMonarchManuel Núñez Pérez6 March 19811 December 1981The Marquess of Ría de RibadeoJuan Carlos IMiguel Cuenca Valdivia29 December 19817 December 1982Felipe GonzálezAlvaro Espina Montero24 April 19858 April 1991Jesús Arango Fernández21 April 199120 July 1993Marcos Peña Pinto20 July 199310 May 1996Manuel Pimentel10 May 199622 January 1999José María AznarJuan Pedro Chozas Pedrero22 January 199914 February 2003Carmen Lucía de Miguel y García14 February 200319 April 2004Valeriano Gómez19 April 20041 December 2006José Luis Rodríguez ZapateroAntonio González González1 December 200628 April 2008Maravillas Rojo28 April 200829 October 2010María Luz Rodríguez Fernández29 October 201030 December 2011Engracia Hidalgo Tena30 December 201126 June 2015Mariano RajoyFelipe VIJuan Pablo Riesgo Figuerola-Ferreti26 June 201518 June 2018Yolanda Valdeolivas García18 June 201814 January 2020Pedro SánchezJoaquín Pérez Rey14 January 2020Incumbent
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