The contributory unemployment benefit will be compatible with a salary as long as it does not exceed 1,350 euros per month
MADRID, 20 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Council of Ministers plans to approve this Tuesday the unemployment benefit reform signed between the Ministry of Labor and CCOO and UGT on May 8 and with which Spain complies with one of the milestones associated with the fourth payment of European funds , as confirmed to Europa Press by government sources.
Precisely, this Monday, May 20, is the date on which Brussels plans to reveal its evaluation of the reforms and investments committed by Spain for the fourth disbursement of funds after the two-month extension agreed with the Spanish Executive last month of March.
The unemployment benefit reform that will be approved tomorrow by the Council of Ministers contemplates an increase in sections of the amount of this aid, currently 480 euros per month (80% of the Iprem); It expands the group of beneficiaries, and will make it possible to make both the subsidy and the contributory unemployment benefit compatible with a salary, among other measures.
The reform, which will come into force in general in November of this year, incorporates some new features compared to the one that overthrew Congress in January with the votes of PP, Vox and Podemos, such as those referring to the compatibility of unemployment aid with A job.
In the case of the subsidy, whose maximum duration will continue to be 30 months, compatibility will be for a maximum period of 180 days for each new full- or part-time job, without reduction in the amount. In the case of the contributory benefit, it can be made compatible with a job after one year receiving benefits and as long as the salary does not exceed 225% of the Iprem (1,350 euros per month with the current Iprem).
This measure, which was not included in the previous reform and which in principle would operate from 2025, aims to prevent unemployment from “entrenching”, since after the year is when “major integration problems” begin to exist. In this way, the compatibility of the contributory benefit with a job is configured as “a special formula for protection of the long-term unemployed”, in the words of the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey.
This new compatibility regime will be accompanied by the establishment of control mechanisms through the signing of a collaboration agreement between the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) and the Labor Inspection to determine the cases of compatibility of unemployment and work benefits. employed persons who must be subject to inspection actions, all to avoid fraud in obtaining and enjoying benefits.
The new reform, which will be approved in the form of a Royal Decree-Law, maintains the simplification of the administrative procedures to access the subsidy, with the elimination of the waiting month for people who have exhausted their contributory benefit and want to apply for the subsidy. Thus, aid can be collected from the first day.
The contribution base for subsidies for those over 52 years of age is also maintained at 125% of the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), compared to the reduction introduced by the first reform and which motivated Podemos to reject it, considering that it They cut the amounts of the future pension. With this decision, the way is paved for the reform to receive approval in Parliament.
The reform, which has not been signed by CEOE and Cepyme, improves the amounts of the subsidies during the first 12 months of receipt, establishing three sections: the subsidy will be 95% of the Iprem during the first six months of collection (570 euros per month with the current Iprem); 90% for the next six months (540 euros) and the current 80% for the rest of the duration of the benefit (480 euros).
Victims of gender or sexual violence from the age of 16 will now be able to access the subsidy, as well as returned emigrants, children under 45 years of age without family responsibilities, and temporary agricultural workers throughout the State (about 200,000, according to union calculations).
In addition, workers residing in Morocco who have carried out their last employment relationship in the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, covered by work authorization for cross-border workers, will be able to access unemployment protection at a contributory level without needing to prove residence in Spain. provided that they meet all the requirements established in the applicable legislation and in the conditions established by regulation.
The reform eliminates partial subsidies for those who have worked part-time, being able to collect them in full, while it will allow people with less than 12 months of contributions (which are necessary to access a contributory benefit) to access the subsidy, a measure that It will fundamentally benefit young people.
Compliance with the requirement of insufficient income is also facilitated for people who access the subsidy, by allowing access both due to insufficient personal income and that of the family unit, alternatively, and coverage will be expanded by allowing access for married couples. made to the family unit.
At the same time, a compatibility regime is established between the agricultural subsidies of Andalusia and Extremadura with those of the General Regime and, additionally, a reduction in the actual working hours required to access the former is committed as a consequence of the drought.
The reform will also allow those who are receiving subsidies to exhaust their current benefits and, subsequently, join the Minimum Vital Income (IMV), a gateway from which victims of gender violence and returned emigrants will be excluded, who They will remain in the subsidy.
Likewise, it is introduced as a cause for suspension of the subsidy that permanent-discontinuous workers are called to restart their activity and do not return to their job, unless justified cause.
The reform also establishes a reserve mechanism for active employment policies for people over 52 years of age to allocate a part of the employment funds to this group, in the order of around 600 million euros.
Likewise, the benefit will be coordinated with a personalized employment activation itinerary with the signing of an activity agreement (previously known as an activity commitment) with the Public Employment Services, establishing the group of long-term unemployed as a priority for those job placement programs and actions.
