Bill would extend COVID furlough schemes and aid for self-employed

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would automatically extend all COVID-19 related force majeure furlough schemes (ERTEERTE Expediente de regulación temporal de empleo: a temporary furlough scheme where a company suspends or reduces its activity and its workers' contracts.) until May 31, 2021, including those based on activity impediments and activity limitations.
2. Companies could request new furlough schemes for impediments or limitations to activity between February 1 and May 31, 2021. If the situation shifts from impediment to limitation, or the other way around, no new scheme is needed, only a notification.
3. Other rules from the previous agreement would be extended until May 31, 2021: limits on dividends, tax transparency, overtime, new hiring and outsourcing, plus a new six-month job preservation commitment for companies receiving Social Security contribution waivers.
4. Extraordinary unemployment protection measures for people in furlough schemes would remain in place until May 31, 2021, including the 70% rate applied to the base for calculating benefits and compatibility of benefits with part-time work.
5. Self-employed workers forced to close by order of the health authorities would receive an extraordinary benefit of 50% of the minimum contribution base, for up to four months, with no obligation to contribute while the closure lasts.
6. Two more benefits for the self-employed are created: one for those who lose income but cannot access the ordinary benefit, and another compatible with continuing self-employment if income falls by more than 50%. There is also a special benefit for seasonal workers.
7. Companies in hard-hit sectors listed in an annex of activity codes (hospitality, leisure, transport, commerce and others) would keep waivers of 85% or 75% of the employer Social Security contribution, depending on company size, from February to May 2021.
8. The bill would extend, until the end of the state of alarm, the deferral or partial forgiveness of rent on a primary residence for vulnerable tenants when the landlord is a large holder or a public entity, and the extraordinary six-month extension of lease contracts.

Words worth knowing

ERTE

Expediente de regulación temporal de empleo: a temporary furlough scheme where a company suspends or reduces its activity and its workers' contracts.

Exoneración

Waiver: being released from paying something, here part of the Social Security contributions.

Base reguladora

The reference amount used to calculate how much a benefit pays.

Cese de actividad

Cessation of activity: the situation of a self-employed person who cannot work and receives a benefit similar to unemployment pay.

Gran tenedor

Large holder: a person or company owning more than ten urban properties, or more than 1,500 square meters built.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries