Doubts and answers about the ERTE and the collection of the benefit: when am I going to collect it? Can I ask for more help?

The coronavirus crisis and the consequent confinement of the population after the state of alarm triggered the number of Temporary Employment Files (ERTE) in Spain, affecting nearly 4 million workers. However, with the de-escalation in phases, and the authorization to reopen with work limitations in different sectors, there are many companies and workers who are having to readapt their original plans.

The Public State Employment Service (SEPE), an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Labor, It is in charge of managing the unemployment protection system. Given the multiple causes generated by the Covid-19 crisis, they have answered the main questions and answers from both companies and workers, as well as about access to the benefit. They are the following:

COMPANYES

We are a company with an ERTE for economic reasons derived from COVID-19. It happens that several of our workers have been able to work for a few days due to a rebound in our activity, but they are going to return to ERTE, since it has been something specific. We do not know how to communicate to SEPE both the loss of the benefit for those days of work and the return to the suspension now.

If what you want is to communicate periods of activity within the suspension situation, whether it is an ERTE for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons or force majeure, what you must do is send those active periods through of the certific@2 application. The system will treat as days protected by unemployment those that are not reported as active from the beginning to the end of the ERTE and will also cancel the benefit on active days. Therefore, report the periods of activity for those days that have been working through the certific@2 application.

The state of alarm is being extended, however, in the collective benefit request that we sent with the people of my company, affected by a force majeure ERTE, we indicated an end date for the suspension that has already passed. Do we have to resubmit another application or how do we have to inform SEPE so that workers continue to be paid?

The SEPE will proceed to the ex officio extension of all the benefits derived from ERTE of force majeure to those with an end date of May 2 or earlier. In the event that a worker returns to work definitively, being disaffected from the ERTE, the company must communicate their withdrawal through the corresponding form, which can be found on the SEPE website, at http://www.sepe.es/HomeSepe/ COVID-19/information-companies.html. in the section Communication of cancellations of ERTE benefits so that the benefit is interrupted.

If the entire workplace recovered normal activity, all the workers, then I would have to communicate the end of the ERTE despite If the alarm period is extended, you will have to communicate it through the corresponding form in the section Communication of termination of ERTE. If between the start of the ERTE due to force majeure and the end of the alarm period there are workers who have had or are going to have days of work but are still in the ERTE, the periods of activity of each person will be communicated through the certific@ application 2 of the SEPE electronic office.

My company's ERTE was rejected due to force majeure, but the people affected were already receiving the benefit. Do I have to communicate the cancellation of the benefit due to the cancellation format or the end of ERTE? Given that in the company we are going to adopt another ERTE but for economic reasons and with a retroactive date, would the benefit that you were already receiving work?

Neither of the two forms indicated are for this situation. In this case, since the ERTE due to force majeure was never authorized, you must contact the SEPE provincial address that corresponds to the work center for the revocation of benefits, attaching the denial resolution. Once they agree on the new ERTE, they will send a new collective request, including all the people affected, and a new benefit will be approved for the ERTE cause that now corresponds.

How do we communicate from the company the leaves due to temporary disability or maternity and paternity leave that are taking place from an ERTE?

Once the ERTE benefit has been approved, whether by force majeure or for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons, if the worker has a situation of temporary disability or maternity-paternity, it will be the latter who notifies SEPE of the situation to regularize your situation.

You can do it by telephone, establishing with the operator the way to send the pertinent documentation (medical leave or resolution granting the maternity-paternity benefit). You can also request an appointment through the SEPE website so that a manager can assist you in this process.

I am a self-employed worker and I don't have a mutual for temporary disability, because I preferred to be with the INSS and I didn't know that it was mandatory to change to a mutual. How do I now request the extraordinary cessation of activity of the Coronavirus if it is not managed by SEPE?

Royal Decree-Law 15/2020 establishes the possibility for people in your situation to now choose a mutual collaborator with Social Security and can request this extraordinary benefit with that entity. You must contact the mutual insurance company of your choice and, once the relationship has been formalized, fill in your application form for extraordinary benefits for cessation of activity with them.

I am a businessman who has had to take advantage of a suspension ERTE for my entire workforce. How do I have to send the information to SEPE for my workers to collect unemployment?

Enter the SEPE website, in the space COVID-19/Information for Companies and follow the instructions of the documents that have been made available to employers for the submission of information on workers affected by ERTE, either due to force majeure or for economic, technical, organizational or production reasons, and either due to suspension of the employment relationship or reduction of the working day.

Pay careful attention to the instructions to complete the template, so that the benefits of all your workers can be processed without unnecessary problems or delays.

My company has carried out an ERTE due to a force majeure reduction in working hours and I have already received the administrative permit from the labor authority. Can I send the list of workers to SEPE?

You can send the document in Excel format according to the template that has been posted on the SEPE website, www.sepe.es. To do this, please follow all the instructions for submitting and completing the document, so that we all make sure that the data is properly processed for the granting of benefits. In addition to that, you must send the company certificates of the people affected through the usual certific@2 procedure, once the ERTE has received the authorization.

I have a company with two employees and I don't know if it can carry out an ERTE

Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of March 17, on extraordinary urgent measures to deal with the economic and social impact of COVID-19, does not place limitations on the minimum number of workers that the company must have to benefit from the these measures. Therefore, it is possible for your company to request the authorization of the ERTE of force majeure from the competent labor authority.

I have a company that has carried out an ERTE due to force majeure and I am waiting for them to give us the authorization. Can I send the list of workers to SEPE?

You can send the list of affected workers for the collective request for the benefit once you have started the procedure before the labor authority, even if you have not received the approving resolution from it. Regarding company certificates, you must wait for administrative authorization. In the event that the labor authority denies the temporary employment regulation file, your workers could not receive the ERTE benefit for that reason, so it is important that you notify SEPE if you have already started procedures for the collective application to be without effect.

In my company, an ERTE has not been requested, but the discontinuous permanent workers have been informed that they will not be called to activity. Do I have to submit a collective request for benefits for them?

No, this procedure is exceptional and is only aimed at companies that have accepted an ERTE of suspension or reduction of working hours. Yes, you must issue the company certificates for those workers.

The ERTE number that has been assigned to my company is longer than what is indicated in the collective application template for unemployment benefits that must be sent to the SEPE. Will there be a problem for this, such as a rejection of the file?

The template must be filled in with the ERTE number that the labor authority has communicated. Although it is a field that is usually formed by an ordinal of 4 positions plus the year of the ERTE, there are regional labor councils that number differently and according to their own system. The SEPE will correct the problem so that the referral file with the collective application is not rejected.

WORKERS

I have requested a virtual appointment but I also sent my request through the system they have put on the Internet. He gave me the prior appointment for May, I made the pre-application later, hoping that the process would be faster. Are they not going to solve until May and, then, I will collect at the earliest in June? Will I have problems for having applied for both sites?

You will be attended to as soon as possible, a manager will contact you, if necessary to gather any information. You should not submit the application more than once because that would only serve to collapse the already saturated system.

I had made a normal prior appointment to go to my employment office before the Coronavirus problem. They gave me an appointment for April. Is this procedure worth it and will they contact me or do I have to make an appointment again, but now through the virtual system?

If you already had an appointment, you do not have to request a new one now. Indeed, a SEPE manager will contact you by phone or by email, if we have that information in our records.

They tell me in my company that, since I am in an ERTE due to the Coronavirus, I do not have to request the SEPE benefit, which they take care of. Is that so, do I not have to request it, just authorize my company to request the benefit for me?

Indeed, it will be the company that, through a collective request, sends us the information of all its workers affected by the ERTE caused by the economic crisis of Covid-19.

What can I do if my company has made a mistake when communicating the start of my benefit in the collective ERTE request?

You must see it with the company and have them contact the SEPE provincial address that corresponds to your workplace. The problem will be corrected with the request of the company, through email or by writing sent by the Central Electronic Registry, in addition to the modification of the company certificate, which must be resubmitted, if it also contains the error.

Due to the government's measures on Sunday, March 29, from Monday the 30th I don't have to go to work. There is talk of paid leave, but do I have to request something from the SEPE, register as a claimant or some other procedure?

In this situation, you will continue to receive your salary and, therefore, you do not have to apply for anything at the SEPE or register as a job seeker. Your employment contract is not altered by this measure.

ACCESS TO THE BENEFIT

I applied for the benefit after being unemployed due to Covid-19 but it was denied because the company fired me for failing the probationary period and I had left two months ago another job, also temporary. But it seems that, due to a legal change, now my situation could be protected. Does this modification apply to me even if I was fired on March 12? If so, what do I have to do, do I apply again?

Indeed, the regulatory change referred to in Royal Decree-Law 15/2020 allows, during this health crisis, access to benefits after a temporary contract terminated for not exceeding the trial period, without attending to the previous termination of the employment relationship. It will apply to terminations in the company that have occurred since March 9, 2020. You can reapply, if you wish, although the SEPE will contact the people who have been denied a benefit for this reason. cause to process your request.

As a consequence of COVID-19, I am affected by an ERTE at my company, where I had been working for two months. I had not previously worked and, therefore, I do not have previous quotes. Would I have the right to access unemployment benefit?

Yes, since the right to contributory unemployment protection is recognized for people affected by these ERTEs even if they do not have the minimum period of listed employment for it.

Do temporary workers affected by an ERTE as a consequence of Covid-19 also have the right to unemployment benefits?

Yes, all workers affected by the extraordinary measures who were working before March 18, 2020, including temporary workers, will be entitled to the contributory unemployment benefit.

I am a worker affected by an ERTE as a consequence of COVID-19 in a company where I work part-time and I also have a full-time contract in another company. Could I collect unemployment benefit for what I stop working?

Since he has another full-time job, there is a situation of incompatibility that does not allow him to access unemployment benefits. You will not be entitled to unemployment benefits as long as that situation continues.

I am Spanish, I have worked in Finland for less than a year and I have never worked in Spain. I have been fired and I have returned to Spain. Will I have the right to unemployment even if I don't have a year of contributions or is that only for those who worked in Spain?

You are not in any of the situations provided for in Royal Decree Law 8/2020, so you will not be entitled to the tax benefit provided for in said regulation. Find out about the possibility of accessing active insertion income at www.sepe.es.

I am employed part-time by two companies. In one of them we are in ERTE suspension due to COVID-19 since March 24. The other company, which is cleaning work, is not going to suspend the activity as it is considered essential, so I will continue working. Can I collect unemployment benefit for what I have stopped working?

Yes, you can access the unemployment benefit, but the proportional part of the time you work in the contract you maintain will be deducted from the amount to be received.

I am registered as a self-employed worker in the RETA and I also work part-time in a company that has included me in an ERTE as a consequence of COVID-19. Would I be entitled to receive unemployment benefit?

Self-employment is incompatible with unemployment benefits or subsidies. If you were registered as a self-employed worker on the date you were affected by the measure or on the date your right would arise, you would not have the right because you would not be unemployed.

I work in a company that has included me in an ERTE due to the coronavirus crisis and also in domestic service. Do I have the right to access unemployment benefit?

You will be able to access the unemployment benefit for the contract affected by the suspension or reduction of working hours as long as the work in domestic service is part-time. In this case, the proportional part of the time worked in the contract for domestic employees that you maintain will be deducted from the amount of the benefit.

I suspended an unemployment benefit because I started working three months ago in a company that has now accepted a suspension ERTE due to Covid-19. Do I have to resume my suspended benefit?

You do not have to resume your benefit, but you can receive a new one during the time your contract is suspended due to Covid-19, without consuming the previous one. If in the future he were to become unemployed again, in order to determine his right, it will be acted as if he had not been recognized now. You will be able to resume the benefit that you suspended at the time or, where appropriate, request a new one.

I suspended a subsidy six months ago because I started working for someone else in a company that now, due to Covid-19, has included me in an ERTE. Since I do not have a sufficient period to receive a contributory benefit, should I now have to resume the same subsidy that was suspended or will I start another subsidy?

You will receive a contributory unemployment benefit, and you will receive it while your contract is suspended or your working hours are reduced for this reason. The interrupted subsidy may be resumed when he is again legally unemployed, unless he is then entitled to a contributory benefit.

For five months I was making RAI compatible with a part-time job in a company that, as a consequence of the coronavirus crisis, has included me in an ERTE. Do I have the right to collect the contributory benefit?

Yes, you will stop collecting the RAI part-time and start collecting the contributory unemployment benefit during the time you are affected by the measure.

I do not have enough contributions for a contributory benefit or for the subsidy because, without family responsibilities, I would need to have worked 6 months. My job was temporary, a replacement contract that was terminated 4 months after starting, although the replacement was for a longer period. Can I ask for any other help?

If your contract ended after March 14, 2020, you may request the exceptional subsidy for the end of a temporary contract, which, if entitled, you would receive for one month, extendable by royal decree, and in the amount of 430.27 euros, 80% of the current Public Multiple Effect Income Indicator (IPREM).