On March 31st 2020 the Spanish Government approved a new package of measures that extend those previously adopted regarding the health crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the new labour measures adopted, we highlight the following:
– Moratorium for companies and freelancers.
The General Treasury of Social Security may grant six-month moratoriums without interest to companies and self-employed workers who request it, although they must meet certain requirements and conditions which are not yet established but will be set by Order of the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration after the agreement of the Government’s Delegate Commission for Economic Affairs.
The moratorium, if granted, will affect the payment of their social security and joint collection contributions, whose accrual period for companies will be between April and June 2020 and for self-employed workers between May and July 2020, provided that their activities were not suspended as a result of the State of Alarm.
This moratorium will not apply to contribution account codes for those companies which obtained exemptions in the payment to Social Security for having requested an ERTE under force majeure pursuant to Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of March 17th.
– Deferment of payment for Social Security debts.
Companies and self-employed workers or those authorised to act through RED System provided that they do not have any other effective deferral, may request the deferral of payment of their Social Security contributions for which the statutory period for payment is between April and June 2020.
In this case, an interest of 0.5% will be applied, rather than the usual rate.
The deferment requests must be filed before the first ten calendar days of the statutory deadline for payment, that is during the first ten days of April, May and June.
– Maintenance of employment.
The fourteenth additional provision of this Royal Decree clarifies the application of the requirement to maintain employment established in the sixth additional provision of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of March 17th, on extraordinary urgent measures to face the economic and social impact of COVID-19, detailing that it will be assessed in view of the specific characteristics of the different sectors and the applicable labour legislation, considering, in particular, the specificities of those companies that present a high variability or seasonality of employment or a direct relationship with specific events or shows, as is the case on performing art, music, film and audio-visual sector, among others.
For temporary contracts, the commitment to maintain employment shall not be deemed as unfulfilled when the contract is terminated due to the expiry of the agreed time or the performance of the work or service that constitutes its object, or when the activity that is the object of the contract cannot be immediately performed.
– Exceptional benefits.
The Royal Decree also provides for the possibility that household employees and workers with fixed-term contracts may apply for certain exceptional subsidies, provided that they meet the established requirements.