Extension of COVID furlough schemes and aid for self-employed

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1. Force majeure furlough schemes (ERTEERTE Expediente de regulación temporal de empleo: a temporary layoff scheme in which a company suspends or reduces its employees' work and wages, usually with the right to unemployment benefits.) related to COVID-19 are automatically extended until May 31, 2021, with exemptions from Social Security contributions for companies.
2. Companies affected by health restrictions can request new ERTE schemes based on impediment or limits on their activity. If the situation shifts from impediment to limitation (or the other way around), no new scheme is needed: it is enough to report the change.
3. Other rules from the previous agreement are extended until May 31, 2021: ERTE schemes for economic causes linked to COVID, limits on dividend payouts, overtime and outsourcing, and a six-month job retention commitment for companies receiving exemptions.
4. Extraordinary unemployment protection measures for people affected by ERTE schemes are kept until May 31, 2021, including the 70% rate applied to the base for calculating benefits and the compatibility of benefits with part-time work.
5. Self-employed workers forced to close by order of the health authorities receive an extraordinary benefit of 50% of the minimum contribution base, for up to four months, without having to pay contributions while the closure lasts.
6. Self-employed workers whose income drops but who cannot access the ordinary cessation-of-activity benefit are entitled to a similar extraordinary benefit, subject to income reduction and earnings limit requirements.
7. The ordinary cessation-of-activity benefit can be received while continuing self-employed work if income falls by more than 50% compared with the second half of 2019, and a special benefit is created for seasonal self-employed workers.
8. Sectors hardest hit by the pandemic (hospitality, leisure, transport and others listed in the annex) and their supply chains receive automatic exemptions of 85% or 75% of the employer contribution, depending on company size.

Who it affects

• Companies with COVID-related ERTE schemes: Their schemes are extended until May 31, 2021 and they can continue to skip part of their Social Security contributions.
• Workers affected by an ERTE scheme: They keep enhanced unemployment benefits until May 31, 2021.
• Self-employed workers forced to close or with falling income: They can apply for extraordinary cessation-of-activity benefits of up to four months.
• Seasonal self-employed workers: They have a specific benefit of 70% of the minimum contribution base.
• Tenants of their main home in vulnerable situations: The rent moratorium or partial waiver and the extraordinary six-month lease extension are extended until the end of the state of alarm.

Words worth knowing

ERTE

Expediente de regulación temporal de empleo: a temporary layoff scheme in which a company suspends or reduces its employees' work and wages, usually with the right to unemployment benefits.

Fuerza mayor (force majeure)

An extraordinary, unforeseeable situation, such as a pandemic, that prevents normal business activity.

Exoneración de cuotas

Exemption from paying Social Security contributions, in whole or in part.

Base reguladora

The reference amount used to calculate how much a person receives in benefits such as unemployment pay.

Cese de actividad

The situation of a self-employed worker who stops working; their benefit is the equivalent of unemployment pay for employees.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries