LABOR MEASURES – UPDATE
Royal Decree Law – 9/2020
On the 27th March 2020, as part of the exceptional measures being taken by the government within the State of Alarm, the Royal Decree 9/2020 was published in the BOE, adopting complementary measures in the field of employment, in order to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.
- Extraordinary Measures for employment protection
The impossibility to urge dismissals with force majeure, economic, technical, organizational and production causes. Such dismissals may be qualified as inappropriate or void.
- Interruption of the count for the Temporary Contracts
The suspension of the termination of temporary contracts, including training, relief and replacement contracts.
If the company can maintain its activity (teleworking), these contracts will not be affected.
- Measures to accelerate the collection of unemployment benefits within the ERTE
It is the employer who will communicate to the unemployment benefits management body, through a collective request.
The company must send the communication within five days of the request for the temporary employment regulation file in cases of force majeure, or from the date on which the company notifies the competent labour authority of its decision in the case of file procedures for economic and organizational reasons.
- Limitation on the duration of ERTES due to force majeure
The maximum duration of the ERTE due to force majeure is determined by the State of Alarm ordered by Royal Decree Law 463/2020.
Royal Decree Law – 10/2020
On the 29th March 2020, and within the exceptional measures within the state of alarm, it was published in the BOE, the Royal Decree 10/2020, whose purpose is to limit as much as possible the mobility of people, in order to prevent the spread of the virus COVID-19.
For this reason, a Remunerated recoverable permission for employees was introduced. This measure is obligatory, limited in time, effective from 30th of March to 9th of April, both inclusive, and it affects employees who provide services in companies or entities of the public or private sector that carry out activities classified as NON-essential.
The recovery of hours, subject to agreement between worker and employer, will begin after the end of the state of alarm and it will last until December 31st, 2020.
The workers affected by this measure will have the right to receive the remuneration that would have corresponded to them if they had been providing the ordinary services, including the basic salary and the complements.
The employees NOT affected by these measures are:
- People working in the sectors considered ESSENTIAL.
- Workers who provide services in the divisions or production lines of activities that correspond to the sectors qualified as essential.
- People affected by an ERTE.
- People on leave due to temporary disability, or whose contract is suspended for another legal reason.
- People who can continue to carry out their work normally (teleworking or any other alternative measure).
The activities considered as ESSENTIAL are described one by one in the Royal Decree Law 10/2010.
Within them there are activities such as: those of the health centres, services and establishments, the production of essential goods and services (food, drinks, medicine, etc.), the service of food to take away or the transport services, as well as the business activities such as lawyers, consultants or bankers.
Royal Decree Law – 11/2020
On the 31st March 2020, as part of the exceptional measures within the state of alarm, the Royal Decree 11/2020 was published in the BOE, whose purpose is to focus on social measures aimed at supporting workers, consumers, families and vulnerable groups, as well as companies an the self-employed workers.
The first important measure considers the extension on social Security Contributions. The Royal Decree Law 11/2020 allows the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social to grant six-month extensions, without interest, to companies and self-employed workers included in any social security regime.
The Social Security Contributions affected are those whose accrual period is between April to June 2020 for companies, or between May to July 2020 for self-employed people.
The second important aspect deals with the deferment of social security debts of Companies and self-employed workers, the regulatory period for which will be between April and June 2020. The following conditions should be noted:
- Companies or self-employed workers must not have any other deferral in force.
- An interest of 0,5% will be applied.
Hoping that the previous compilation will be useful, we reiterate our firm willingness to resolve any doubts that may arise from the reading of this note, so please do not hesitate to contact us.