This Royal Decree materializes the second major agreement reached by the social agents after several weeks of negotiation and whose fundamental pillar is the extension or prolongation of the temporary dismissal processes defined in the Article 22 of Royal Decree Law 8/2020. If the previous agreement that gave life to the RD law 18/2020 contemplated a maximum duration of the temporary dismissal processes due to force majeure until June 30, we now have our sights set on a new date: September 30, 2020.

The temporary dismissal processes of force majeure approved before June 27 will be considered temporary dismissal processes in transition that will have a maximum duration until September 30, 2020 and to which all the measures included in the RD law 8/2020 of March 17 will be applied. The companies and entities affected by these files must reincorporate the workers affected by temporary employment regulation measures, to the extent necessary for the development of their activity, giving priority to adjustments in terms of reduction of working hours.

As a novelty it is included that for the Force Majeure temporary dismissal processes to be terminated and without application, companies must notify to the Labor Authority of the total and express waiver within 15 days from the date of effect of the waiver.

Regarding the temporary dismissal process ETOP, those in force will continue according to the terms and conditions reached in the agreement and those that begin later, until September 30th will be governed by the conditions included in the RD law 8/2020 in terms of time limits and procedures. As a novelty, it is allowed the possibility of beginning to negotiate a temporary dismissal process by ETOP while the temporary dismissal is in force due to force majeure and that it can be recognized as a starting date retroactively to the end of the temporary dismissal process due to force majeure.

Special protection in the field of unemployment

Until September 30th, the measures included in Royal Law 8/2020 of 17 March, which extended unemployment protection to all persons affected by a redundancy program derived from Covid 19, even if they do not have the minimum contribution period required for access to the benefit, will remain in force, as will the interruption in the calculation of the benefit received during the duration of the temporary dismissal process, now with a new end date: 30 of September 2020.

Extraordinary contribution measures, exemptions from social security contributions

All the temporary dismissal processes negotiated and in force before the entry into force of the RD law 24/2020 will be eligible for quota exemptions. From now on, important attention should be paid to what type of temporary dismissal process we have in application and in which transition month until September we are, in order to be able to calculate the percentage to be applied.

The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration has published a summary outline of the exemptions that may be applied, which we attach below.

New temporary dismissal processes exemptions until 30 Sep
No. of workers
July
August
September
Transitional temporary dismissal processes (FM temporary dismissal processes
Total as of June 30th)
<50
70%
60%
35%
>50
50%
40%
25%
Extension of
temporary dismissal processes
partial FM
<50
Activated
60%
60%
60%
Suspended
35%
35%
35%
>50
Activated
40%
40%
40%
Suspended
25%
25%
25%

The most important thing regarding exemptions of quotas is that the temporary dismissal processes for causes ETOP will have the same exonerations that the temporary dismissal processes for causes of force majeure as long as they had been requested before June 26.

In all cases, the exemptions in the contribution will be applied by the TGSS at the request of the company, after communicating the identification of the workers and the period of suspension or reduction of the working day, and after presenting a responsible declaration.

Companies and entities with redundancy plans based on Articles 22 and 23 of Royal Decree Law 8/2020, of March 17th, will be exonerated from paying the company’s social security contribution as follows:

  • Workers who resume their activity as from 1 July 2020, as well as those referred to in Article 22 and 23 of the Royal Decree Law 18/2020 of 12 May, and the periods and percentages of working time thereafter, shall be exempted from payment of the employer’s contribution of 60 % of the contribution due in July, August and September 2020, where the company had fewer than 50 workers or persons treated as such who were registered with the social security authorities on 29 February 2020. If, on that date, the company had 50 or more employees or persons treated as employees in a situation of registration, the exemption will reach 40 % of the employer’s contribution due in July, August and September 2020.
  • The employees of these companies who continue their suspended activities as from 1 July 2020 and the periods and percentages of time affected by the suspension, the exemption will reach 35% of the employer’s contribution due in July, August and September 2020, when the company had fewer than 50 employees or those assimilated to them registered with the social security authorities on 29 February 2020. If, on that date, the company had 50 or more employees or persons treated as employees in a situation of registration, the exemption will reach 25 % of the employer’s contribution due in July, August and September 2020.

The companies and entities that are in a situation of total force majeure, under the terms of Royal Decree 18/2020, of 12 May, on 30 June 2020, with respect to the workers assigned and registered in the contribution account codes of the affected work centers, will be exonerated from the payment of the company contribution:

  • Employees of these undertakings who continue their suspended activities from 1 July 2020 and the periods and percentages of working time affected by the suspension, 70% of contributions due in July 2020, 60% of contributions due in August 2020 and 35% of contributions due in September 2020, if these undertakings and bodies had fewer than 50 employees or persons treated as employees on 29 February 2020.
  • Workers in these companies who continue their suspended activities from 1 July 2020 and the periods and percentages of time affected by the suspension, 50% of the contributions due in July 2020, 40 % in respect of contributions accrued in August 2020 and 25 % in respect of contributions accrued in September 2020 if the said undertakings and bodies had 50 or more employees or persons treated as employees on 29 February 2020.
  • One of the novelties introduced by this Royal Decree is the possibility of returning to a temporary dismissal process for reasons of force majeure, since it is once again in a health emergency situation with new containment and restriction measures. These new temporary dismissal processes due to force majeure that lead to the cessation of activity due to resurgence or new restrictions will be governed by the general rules included in Article 47.3 of the Workers’ Statute, although they may maintain the measures for unemployment protection and may benefit from the following exemptions:
  • 80% of the employer’s contribution accrued during the closure period, and up to 30 September, when the company had fewer than fifty employees or similar persons registered with the Social Security authorities on 29 February 2020.
  • If, on that date, the company had fifty or more employees or persons assimilated to them in a situation of registration, the exemption will reach 60% of the business contribution during the period of closure and until 30 September.

Express limitations

The following prohibitions are established during the validity of an employment regulation file:

  • No overtime will be allowed.
  • The activity cannot be outsourced.
  • No new direct or indirect contracts may be arranged.

Safeguarding of employment

The employment safeguard clause will be applied to those companies in ERTE due to ETOP causes that take advantage of the extraordinary measures regarding contributions and exemptions from Social Security contributions. In the case in which these extraordinary measures are requested for the first time, the term of the employment commitment will be 6 months from the entry into force of Royal Decree Law 24/2020.

Do you need more information?

Marta Almenara

Marta Almenara
Payroll Services Manager

Toda la información está actualizada en el año 2020. Este contenido ha sido preparado como guía general sobre asuntos de interés únicamente, y no constituye asesoramiento profesional. En ningún caso se debe actuar en base a la información contenida en este documento sin obtener asesoramiento profesional específico. Ninguna representación o garantía (expresa o implícita) se da en cuanto a la exactitud o integridad de la información contenida en estas páginas, y, en la medida permitida por la ley, AUXADI no acepta o asume ninguna responsabilidad o deber de cuidado derivado de cualquier consecuencia que usted o cualquier otra persona que actúe, o se abstenga de actuar, en confianza en la información contenida aquí o por cualquier decisión basada en ella.