SPAIN: COVID-19: MEASURES FOR THE PROTECTION OF CITIZENS AND IN SOCIAL SECURITY ROYAL DECREE-LAW 15/2020

José DutilhManaging Partner, LeQuid, The J.Dutilh Law Firm For Social Impact

Measures within this regulation are planned to improve the protection of citizens in situations generated by the health crisis, as well as complementary measures in Social Security.

These measures can be classified in the following blocks:

  • Unemployment protection.
  • Pension plans.
  • Reduction of Notary and Registry costs.
  • Consumer contracts.
  • ICO-guaranteed loans [Official Credit Institute].
  • Quote for the Special Scheme for Agricultural Employees.
  • Postponement of Social Security payments.
  • Pension System.

Unemployment protection.

Changes are regulated in 2 situations that were generating problems or difficulties:

  • Access to unemployment benefits, contracts expired during trial period, produced since March 9.
    • The 3 months since the previous leave will not be required, even if it were the worker’s choice, for access to unemployment benefits.
  • Access to unemployment benefits, workers who voluntarily terminated since March 1 for having a firm job offer that has not come to fruition.
    • The legal unemployment situation will be accredited by written communication from the company to the worker, withdrawing from the signing of the work contract as a consequence of the COVID 19 crisis.

Pension plans.

With an aim to contribute to the alleviation of liquidity needs of households, the measure is developed to extend the contingencies in which the consolidated rights of pension plans can be reimbursed back, contained in Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31.

The conditions and terms are established in which the consolidated rights can be reimbursed back, regulating, among others, the accreditation of the circumstances that entitle the availability of the plans, the period to which such circumstances are linked and the maximum amount available.

Cases:

  1. The participant is affected by a temporary downsizing plan [ERTE] derived from the health crisis situation caused by COVID-19:
    1. Documentation. Company certificate attesting that the participant has been affected by the temporary downsizing plan, indicating its effects on the work relationship for the participant.
    2. Limit of available quantity. The lowest between:
      1. Net salary not received while the temporary downsizing plan is in force, with a maximum computation period equal to the validity of the State of Alarm plus one additional month.
      2. 3 * IPREM [Public Index of Multiple Purpose Income] corresponding to the validity of the State of Alarm plus one additional month
    3. The participant is a business owner of an establishment whose opening to the public has been suspended as a result of the State of Alarm:
      1. Documentation. Declaration of responsibility of the participant in which he/she declares to comply with the requirements established by the regulations, and able to enforce their consolidated rights.
      2. Limit of available quantity. The lowest between:
        1. The estimated net income that has been lost due to the suspended opening to the public, with a maximum computation period equal to the validity of the State of Alarm plus one additional month.
        2. 3 * IPREM [Public Index of Multiple Purpose Income] corresponding to the validity of the State of Alarm plus one additional month
      3. The participant is self-employed and registered in RETA [Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers], or an alternative mutual fund and has ceased their activity during the State of Alarm declared by the Government due to COVID-19.
        1. Documentation. Certificate issued by the competent Tax Administration based on the declaration of cessation of activity declared by the interested party.
        2. Limit of available quantity. The lowest between:
          1. The estimated net income that has been lost due to the suspension of opening to the public, with a maximum computation period equal to the validity of the State of Alarm plus one additional month.
          2. 3 * IPREM [Public Index of Multiple Purpose Income] corresponding to the validity of the State of Alarm plus one additional month
        3. EXCEPTIONAL CASE, when the applicant is unable to provide any of the required documents, he/she may substitute these through a declaration of responsibility, including an express justification of the reasons, related to the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, which prevent such contribution.
          1. After the end of the State of Alarm and its extensions, individuals will have a period of one month to provide the documents that they have not yet provided.

Reduction of Notary and Registry costs.

Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of March 18, regulates the registration fees and costs derived from the formalization and registration of the legal mortgage moratorium:

  • Granting of the deed will accrue a fee between €30 and €75
  • A fee between €24 and €50 will be applied for registration in the Registry.

In Royal Decree-Law 15/2020, this allowances regime has been extended to the formalization of public instruments in the field of non-mortgage financing contracts in which the legally foreseen moratorium is applied, whether a notarial instrument or policy.

Furthermore, the cost of the unilateral granting by the creditor of the notarial instruments in which the period extension derived from the legal moratorium of the mortgage-guaranteed loans or credits, or by means of a different recordable right, will be paid by the creditor.

Consumer contracts.

Regulation of the resolution of contracts signed by consumers is clarified and explained, as a consequence of their impossible fulfilment as a consequence of the health crisis.

The period to exercise the right to terminate the contract is 14 days from the impossible execution of the same.

This resolution can only be estimated when it is not possible to obtain a solution restoring the normal operation and balance of the contract from the revision proposals offered by each of the parties, based on good faith.

The proposals for revision may include, among others, the offer of redeemable passes or vouchers.

For these purposes, it will be understood that a revision proposal to restore the reciprocity of interests of the contract is impossible to obtain when a period of 60 days has elapsed from the request for contractual termination by the consumer or user, without agreement between the parties on the revision proposal.

ICO-guaranteed loans [Official Credit Institute].

In relation to the loans guaranteed in full by the ICO, the maximum amount of the endorsement lines established to cover the financing of lessees of usual residence in a vulnerable situation as a consequence of the social and economic impact of the pandemic.

The maximum amount of this endorsement line is 1.2 billion euros.

Quote for the Special Scheme for Agricultural Employees.

Effective from 01/01/2020, to workers who have worked a maximum of 55 days in 2019, a reduction of 19.11% will be applied to the resulting quotas during their periods of inactivity in 2020.

Postponement of Social Security payments.

A series of modifications are made in relation to postponement of Social Security payments.

  • The postponement resolution procedure is simplified, regardless of the number of monthly instalments it comprises.
  • A uniform criterion is established to determine the amortization period by the staggered debt payment.
  • The legal effect of the request is established until the resolution of the procedure, in relation to the suspension of the administrative periods included in the declaration of the State of Alarm.
  • The postponement is declared incompatible with the moratorium regulated in article 34 of Royal Decree-Law 11/2020, of March 31.

Pension System.

A series of measures are agreed, internal to the Social Security Administration, aimed at integrating the Pension System into the Social Security system.