Royal Decree-Law 18/2021, on urgent measures for the protection of employment, economic recovery and improvement of the labor market.

Royal Decree-Law 18/2021, of September 28, on urgent measures for the protection of employment, economic recovery and improvement of the labor market.

The purpose of this Royal Decree-Law, approved by the Council of Ministers and published in the Official State Gazette, is to establish a series of measures for the protection of employment, economic recovery and improvement of the labor market.

The new regulation, in force until February 28, 2022, establishes, on the one hand, the extension of the ERTEs in their current modalities until October 31, 2021 and, on the other hand, the new ERTE modalities as from November 1, for which it is mandatory to apply to the competent labor authority for their extension between October 1 and 15. Therefore, the new ERTEs will be extended from November 1 to February 28, 2022.

The most relevant measures established by the Royal Decree-Law are highlighted below:

Training ERTE
From a model based on the so-called sectoral ERTE, with special protection for activities that had shown less recovery after the impact of the pandemic, greater protection is given to companies that promote the training of their employees. Training is thus encouraged in the new ERTEs, subsidizing the bulk of the cost of training and applying exemptions to companies that train their workers in ERTEs.

Companies that train people affected by this type of ERTE will be entitled to an increase in the credit for financing training activities, depending on their size:

• From 1 to 9 employees: 160 euros per person.
• From 10 to 49 employees: 240 euros per person.
• For 50 or more people: 320 euros per person.

Exemptions
The benefits, in the form of exemption from social security contributions and training subsidies, are greater depending on the size of the company and the training activities.

• The exoneration scheme between November and February will distinguish between companies with less than 10 workers and those with a workforce equal to or greater than 10 workers. Thus, for the former, the exonerations in Social Security contributions will reach 80% if they carry out training actions and 50% for the rest; if the company has 10 or more workers, it will have an exoneration of 80% if it carries out training actions, and 40% in the rest of the cases.
• The minimum number of hours of training for each person will be 30 in companies with 10 to 49 workers and 40 for those with 50 or more. And these activities must be carried out during the suspended workday.
• In addition, the ERTEs of impediment, linked to activity limitations, are maintained. Companies in this situation will be exempted from 100% of the business contribution accrued from November 2021, during the closure period, until February 28.

Protection of workers
Workers under ERTE will continue to enjoy the exemption from the waiting period for access to unemployment benefits. Also, the so-called "zero counter" will be extended on an extraordinary basis until January 1, 2023.

The regulatory bases for workers, on which benefits are calculated, are increased from 50% to 70% for beneficiaries who have used 180 days.

Benefits are maintained for people affected by ERTE with part-time contracts and the extraordinary benefit for discontinuous permanent employees.

Accompanying measures
Guarantees from previous agreements such as limits on dividend distributions and access to aid for companies domiciled in tax havens are maintained.

Companies covered by these ERTEs will have to respect restrictions on access to overtime and outsourcing of activity.

The prohibition of dismissal is extended during the period of validity of the regulation and the calculation of the maximum duration of temporary contracts for persons under ERTE is also interrupted.

The commitment to maintain employment will have a new additional period of 6 months.

The regulation also provides for the extension of the MECUIDA plan and the extraordinary benefit for arts professionals until February 28, 2022.

Specific ERTE for the Canary Islands
Specific ERTEs have been approved for the companies affected by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma and in the Canary Islands as a whole.

Workers will be protected and companies will benefit from exemptions of up to 100% of social security contributions in the event that their activity is totally impeded and up to 90% in the case of activity limitation.

Simplified processing
Companies must apply to the labor authority for the extension of all files to extend the benefits of the ERTE until February 28, 2022. To process this request they must submit the list of hours or days of work suspended or reduced since July 2021. In the particular case of ERTE for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons, the so-called ERTE ETOP, the report of the legal representation of the workers must be submitted.

The simplification of procedures to go from an ERTE of impediment to one of limitation and vice versa is maintained. A communication in this sense to the labor authority and to the workers' representatives will be sufficient.

Extension of aid to the self-employed
The sixth aid scheme for the self-employed of this type has also been approved. With the aim of supporting the maintenance of the activity, it includes exemptions from Social Security contributions for all self-employed workers who have been protected in the previous period for the next four months.

These grants, in the form of exemptions, will be as follows: 90% in October, 75% in November, 50% in December and 25% in January 2022.

Benefits
In addition, the extraordinary benefits in force to protect those who have a significant impact on their activity are maintained until February 28.

• Firstly, the extraordinary benefit for suspension of activity continues, aimed at those self-employed workers with a temporary suspension of all their activity as a result of a resolution of the competent administrative authorities for the containment of the COVID 19 pandemic. The amount of the benefit is 70% of the minimum contribution base. In addition, the self-employed will be exempted from paying Social Security contributions, although this period will be counted as having paid contributions and, if applicable, will be compatible with income from employment up to 1.25 times the minimum wage.
• Secondly, the benefit compatible with the activity is maintained for those workers who, while meeting the requirement for the ordinary termination of activity benefit, meet two additional requirements:
• That its third- and fourth-quarter 2021 revenue will fall 50%, compared with the third and fourth quarters of 2019.
• Not having obtained during the third and fourth quarters of 2021 a net taxable income of more than 8,070 euros.
• Third, those who do not meet the requirements to access this benefit or the ordinary termination of employment may request an extraordinary benefit. The amount of the benefit is 50% of the minimum contribution base and is also exempt from paying contributions and counts as having paid contributions. The requirements are to prove a drop in income of 75% (the income of the fourth quarter of 2021 must be lower than that of the fourth quarter of 2019) and not to have a net computable income between July and December 2021 higher than 75% of the minimum interprofessional wage.
• Fourthly, the benefit for seasonal self-employed workers is also maintained, which is 70% of the minimum base and requires no income of more than 6,725 euros in the third and fourth quarters of 2021.
• Finally, a specific benefit has also been approved for self-employed workers affected by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma. Those self-employed workers who are forced to suspend or cease their activity as a direct consequence of this event will be able to receive the benefit for cessation of activity without the first five months of perception being counted.

This Royal Decree-Law will enter into force on the same day of its publication in the BOE.