News

As we told you last week in our press release, changes were made to the ERTES (Temporary Employment Regulation Files) on the 1^st of October, 2020, and we have more information and details about the most important developments concerning the new situation of the ERTEs from this date until the 31^st of January, 2021, pursuant to the Royal Decree-Law 30/2020, on social measures in defence of employment, published on the 30^th of September, 2020.

• FORCE MAJEURE ERTE, which are currently valid shall all be extended automatically until the 31^st of January, 2021, without having to carry out any other procedures at the labour Authorities and with regard to this extension, a new collective request for benefits only has to be made before the 20^th of October, 2020, if it concerns unemployment benefits that do need to be processed at the SEPE (Spanish State Public Employment Service).

• IMPEDIMENT ERTE THAT PREVENTS THE BUSINESS ACTIVITY BEING CARRIED OUT, this new type of force majeure ERTE, can be requested by companies from any sector or activity, if they cannot carry out their business activities as normal in any of their places of work due to the new restrictions or coronavirus containment measures adopted by the Spanish or foreign authorities from the 1^st of October, 2020:

• A new temporary employment regulation file will have to be processed at the Labour Authorities, as the Force Majeure IMPEDIMENT ERTE.

• The file will last for as long as the adopted restriction measures are in force.

• Exemption from paying the Social Security contributions: In companies with less than 50 workers it will be 100%, in companies with more than 50 workers it will be 90%.

• ERTE DUE TO ACTIVITY LIMITATIONS, this is another new type of force majeure ERTE, just like the impediment ERTE companies from any sector or activity can apply for it if they see that there are limitations on their normal business operations, which are directly due to the measures taken by the Spanish authorities:

• A new temporary employment regulation file will have to be processed at the Labour Authorities, as the Force Majeure LIMITATIONS ERTE.

• The exemptions on paying the Social Security contributions in these cases shall be applied as follows:

COMPANIES WITH LESS THAN 50 WORKERS

COMPANIES WITH MORE THAN 50 WORKERS

• POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS ARISING FROM THE COVID-19.

• New ETOP ERTE (for economic, technical, organizational or productioncauses) that are associated with the COVID-19, will still be subject to the provisions established in article 23 of the RD-Law 8/2020 until the 31^st of January, 2021, with the specifications established in it, that is, a fast-track procedure, the labour inspection discretionary report, the priority of the trade unions that represent the sector the best in setting up the negotiating committee.

• The processing of these ERTES can start while a force majeure ERTE is valid.

• An ETOP ERTE can begin once a FORCE MAJEURE ERTE has finished, the date that the ETOP ERTE comes into force will be moved back to the date that FORCE MAJEURE ERTE the ends.

• The ETOP ERTE that are valid on the date that the RD-Law comes into force will continue to be applicable pursuant to the terms provided for in the final report of the company and until the expiry date established in it.

• Files that end while the RD-Law is in force can be extended as long as an agreement is reached on this in the consultation period. This extension will have to be processed at the Labour Authorities that receive the final report on the initial file.

• COMPANIES THAT BELONG TO SECTORS THAT HAVE HIGH ERTE COVERAGE AND A LOW ACTIVITY RECOVERY RATE

• Just for companies that have FORCE MAJEURE temporary employment regulation files that have been extended automatically until the 31^st of January, 2021, in which a number of circumstances, which are shown below, must apply in order to be eligible for the exemption from paying the social security contributions:

• Companies whose activity is included in one of the specific CNAE (National Classification of Economic Activities) provided for in the annex of the RD-Law.

• That have a high ERTE coverage rate and a low activity recovery rate.

• Companies that are part of the value chain, namely those that generated 50% of their turnover in 2019 in direct transactions with companies that are included in the list of specific CNAES.

• Companies that indirectly depend on others that are included in the aforesaid CNAES.

• Both in the companies that are part of the value chain and those that indirectly depend on the companies associated with the CNAES, they will have to prove this before the labour authorities that have issued the specific or tacit decision about the extended ERTE and a REPORT explaining what has occurred must be submitted as well.

• This request has to be made between the 5^th and 19^th of October, 2020, and the Labour Authorities will have 5 working days to make the administrative decision, after this period if there is no response from the Authorities it shall be understood that the request made has been accepted, regardless of the obligation to take a decision.

• The following companies can benefit from EXEMPTIONS:

• With a FORCE MAJEURE ERTE, which has been automatically extended until the 31^st of January, 2021 and as long as they are included in the CNAES of the Annex or are part of or dependent on the value chain of companies that are included in the specific CNAES.

• That change from a FORCE MAJEURE to an ETOP ERTE when they are included in the CNAES of the Annex or they are part of or dependent on the value chain of companies that are included in the specific CNAES.

• That have an ETOP ERTE in which they were benefitting from exemptions pursuant to the II ASDE (Employment Defence Agreement) and whose activity is included in the CNAES of the annex.

• The exemptions from the 1^st of October, 2020, for workers that have joined the activity and for workers that are still in the ERTE with the same percentage is as follows:

• Companies with less than 50 workers 85% until the 31^st of January, 2021.
  • Companies with more than 50 workers 75% until the 31^st of January, 2021.

• BEAR IN MIND:

• OVERTIME is still prohibited, as is HIRING NEW EMPLOYEES, except if those affected by the ERTE cannot meet the needs of the company due to training or qualifications in which case personnel can be hired.

• Objective dismissal due to economic, technical, organisation or production reasons related to COVID is prohibited until the 31^st of January, 2021.

• The commitment to save jobs is upheld, in the current conditions, in companies that have automatically extended the FORCE MAJEURE ERTE, or are faced with new obstacles or limitations to carry out their business activity.

1. Companies will have a new 6 month period to save jobs if they want to benefit from the new exemptions pursuant to the RD-Law, and if they are already committed to maintaining previous jobs, the six months will begin when the previous commitment ends.

• UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT stays at 70% of the regulatory assessment base after the first 6 months of benefits for those affected by ERTE until the 31^st of January, 2021. 

• EXTRA BENEFITS FOR PERMANENT SEASONAL WORKERS.  Workers with permanent seasonal contracts or permanent-intermittent contracts that have been included in an ERTE for all or part of the last theoretical period of activity, when they stop being affected by it, are eligible for these extra benefits.