Andorra Fails Six of Seven Social Charter Articles on Labour Rights

The European Committee of Social Rights has declared Andorra non-compliant with six of seven articles in the European Social Charter reviewed in its 2025 Conclusions, published this week after assessing data submitted by the Principality before 31 December 2024. The evaluation, covering 20 countries including Germany, Slovenia, Latvia and Austria, highlights persistent issues in labour rights amid evolving work models.

Non-compliance spans Articles 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.3 and 5. Under Article 4.3, a significant gender pay gap remains, with men earning an average €2,716 monthly in 2023 compared to €2,189 for women—a €527 difference, equivalent to women receiving 80.6% of male earnings. This marked a slight narrowing from 2022 (€2,602 vs €1,926, €676 gap), but the committee noted no measurable progress. Article 5 points to insufficient promotion of trade union freedom, particularly in low-unionisation sectors like private industry, digital platforms and domestic work. Unions mainly represent public employees, with minimal private-sector presence—union candidates appeared in just one recent worker representation election, at SAAS. Despite advances such as company committees, no specific measures target under-unionised areas.

Article 2.1 flags excessive hours for healthcare and social services workers, frequently exceeding 16 daily, 60 weekly or even 72 hours outside exceptional cases. The report criticises absent safeguards for overtime, on-call duties and non-active guard periods, which receive partial pay but count as neither work nor rest. Articles 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 identify health and safety shortcomings for teleworkers, platform workers, self-employed individuals and domestic staff. No national policies address psychosocial risks; labour inspectors lack home-entry powers; and protections for remote or self-employed workers remain inadequate, despite general frameworks.

Andorra fully complies with Article 20 on equal opportunities between women and men. The committee commended steady increases in female labour market participation, strong female representation in senior public administration and judicial roles, salary transparency measures, neutral job classifications and a pending equality bill to progressively align maternity and paternity leave.

Government spokesperson Guillem Casal minimised the findings, insisting Andorra "is not in a bad situation" on labour rights. He stressed that most reviewed countries show lower compliance and that a new assessment would reflect 2025 advances. The executive views the observations as non-punitive guidance—a "constructive roadmap"—rather than sanctions.

Post-2024 steps include Labour Relations Law amendments, negotiated via the Economic and Social Council with unions and employers to simplify company committees (now before parliament); enhanced gender pay data collection and corporate equality plan registration under the Equality Law; and efforts on psychosocial risks in new work forms. Casal reaffirmed commitment to the Charter, ratified in 2004.

Unió Sindical d'Andorra leader Gabriel Ubach sharply criticised the government, saying the report should make its members "hang their heads in shame." He accused executives of caring little about social rights, prioritising big businesses over workers, and called for a complete policy reversal and early elections.