Exemption from paying contributions to companies that make ERTEs and do not fire

El Consejo de Ministros ha aprobado este martes un conjunto de medidas económicas y laborales para afrontar los efectos del coronavirus, entre la que se incluye la exoneración del pago de cotizaciones a aquellas empresas que, en lugar de despedir trabajadores, se acojan a expedientes de regulación de empleo temporales (ERTE) .

This was announced by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, where he also stressed that this measure will alleviate the financial burdens on companies and allow them to recover jobs “as soon as possible.”

Sánchez explained that all ERTEs will be considered carried out by force majeure and will be managed quickly, and all workers affected by these procedures will have the right to collect unemployment even if they do not meet the minimum contribution period required for it. In addition, the time the perception of this benefit lasts (counter to zero) will not be considered consumed.

“Thus, the suspension of contracts and reduction of working hours is prioritized over layoffs,” stressed Sánchez, who has appealed to employers to take advantage of these measures instead of cutting staff.

The decree approved today promotes teleworking through an “important” endowment to companies for the purchase of computers, while allowing workers to adapt or reduce their workday to care for their dependents, with a possible reduction 100% of the day.

THE COLLECTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED IS FLEXIBLE
The president has also advanced that the access to the benefit for cessation of activity of the self-employed will be made more flexible and the self-employed who go unemployed will be exempt from paying contributions.

Specifically, according to collective sources, an extraordinary benefit is established for cessation of activity subject to a regulation other than the ordinary one, according to which the self-employed person can request an ERTE for his workers and request at the same time the collection of an extraordinary benefit for cessation of activity, without obligation to contribute while this exceptional situation lasts.

The chief executive has thanked unions and businessmen for the “valuable” proposals that they sent him to combat the effects of the coronavirus on the economy and employment, some of which have been incorporated into the decree.