The benefit will be linked to the signing of an activity agreement, with rights and obligations for the beneficiaries and employment services.
This Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved the Royal Decree-Law that reforms the unemployment benefit, which will be higher during the first year of receipt, compatible with employment during the first 180 days without loss of benefit, and will be linked to the signing of an activity agreement by its beneficiaries.
This reform has been the subject of clashes in recent weeks between the Ministry of Labor of Yolanda Díaz and the Ministry of Economy of Nadia Calviño, but it has been unblocked after both Departments reached an agreement, with concessions by both parties.
In this sense, the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, stated in the press conference after the Council of Ministers that the existing “nuances” with the Economy have been resolved with “dialogue, dialogue and dialogue.” “Who have won today are the workers,” Díaz responded when asked if she has won against Calviño in this reform.
The changes in the subsidy had to be approved before the end of the year as it is the last of the milestones of component 23 of the Recovery Plan, linked to the disbursement of the fourth payment of European funds, which the Government will request from Brussels tomorrow.
“Each and every one of the reforms committed to the European Commission in component 23 today are completely approved, settled and completed,” the minister stressed, adding that “from minute one” the Government “has done nothing but expand labor rights”.
The minister has highlighted that this reform is “especially feminist” because more than 56% of the people who receive unemployment benefits are women. She has also explained that the majority are recipients over 55 years of age and that their beneficiaries are concentrated in four large autonomous communities: Andalusia, Valencian Community, Madrid and Catalonia.
The reform approved by the Government includes slight changes with respect to the one initially designed by Labor, but continues to maintain the original ‘body’: expanding the universe of beneficiaries, currently from about 800,000 people, to more than one million, as well as the amounts to be received. during the first year of the benefit.
Specifically, the reform increases the unemployment benefit, currently 480 euros per month, the equivalent of 80% of the Iprem, to 570 euros during the first six months of receipt (95% of the Iprem) and to 540 euros per month in the following six months. (90% of the Iprem) and then recover 80% of the Iprem until its termination, which remains at a maximum of 30 months, depending on age, family circumstances and the duration of the exhausted benefit.
These amounts are what would correspond to the subsidy with the current Iprem, which is 600 euros per month. If this indicator increases, so would the amount of the subsidy, since what the reform would set are the percentages of the Iprem to which the aid must be equivalent. Of course, these new amounts will apply to the new recipients recognized as of the entry into force of the reform, not to the previous ones.
MORE BENEFICIARIES
The reform also incorporates into the subsidy those under 45 years of age without family responsibilities (about 150,000, according to Labor estimates) and potential farmers residing outside Andalusia and Extremadura (about 250,000), as well as cross-border workers from Ceuta and Melilla. .
“Not only do we not cut any rights, but we substantially expand the coverage that we have designed today in our country,” highlighted the minister, who has urged the PP to vote in favor of this reform “in the interest of the Spanish people.”
The reform, which Díaz has described as “significant”, reduces the assumptions of general access to aid to two: the subsidy for exhaustion of the contributory benefit and for insufficient contributions, and preserves the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, which will continue being equivalent to 80% of the Iprem.
The text unifies the requirements for access to Agrarian Income and the subsidy for temporary workers of the Special Agrarian System on the reciprocal calculation of contributions from the PROFEA (Plan for the Promotion of Agrarian Employment), which simplifies the access requirements and the management of these specific subsidies, according to Labor.
Temporarily, the rights recognized with the previous regulations are maintained until their extinction, and it is planned to facilitate the transition towards social protection when the beneficiary does not re-enter the labor market.
In addition, the duration of this subsidy is unified in cases of having family responsibilities regardless of the age at the time the benefit is exhausted.
Those who prove contribution periods of less than six months and lack family responsibilities may also qualify for the subsidy for insufficient contributions.
WITHOUT A MONTH OF WAITING AND COMPATIBLE WITH A JOB
The rule approved by the Council of Ministers establishes the possibility of making the subsidy compatible for each new full- or part-time job during the first 180 days without loss of amount, compared to the 45 days initially proposed by Labor.
“This is key in all public policies, because many times, when faced with the choice of dispensing with the subsidy or accompanying a contract for only a few days, people remained on this subsidy. This is corrected today with the compatibility of exactly 180 days,” the minister argued.
Unemployment benefits (contributory and subsidy) will be compatible with scholarships and aid obtained for attending vocational or on-the-job training actions or for carrying out training internships or external academic internships in public or private entities that are part of the unemployment plan. studies and are produced within the framework of collaboration between said entities and the teaching center in question.
The reform improves accessibility to the subsidy by eliminating the month-long wait after exhaustion of the contributory benefit to submit the application, also extending the application period to six months so that the job search “does not collide” with the need to apply for the subsidy. subsidy in peremptory terms.
In general, the right to subsidy will arise on the day of your application, disappearing the so-called days consumed due to late application.
ACTIVITY AGREEMENT SUBSCRIPTION
The benefit will be linked to a personalized employment activation itinerary through the signing of an activity agreement within the framework of the Employment Law, with a set of services that establish reciprocal rights and obligations between the person requesting public employment services. employment to increase the employability of beneficiaries.
In the new regulation of the level of assistance, accreditation is maintained before the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) and also before the regional public employment services of actions aimed at the active search for employment, job reintegration or improvement of employability.
Within the framework of the new Employment Law, beneficiaries are guaranteed individual tutoring service, ongoing advice and personalized attention.
The rules issued for updating the Common Portfolio of Services of the National Employment System will guarantee access to its services to the beneficiaries of the level of protection assistance.
Furthermore, within the framework of the evaluation of active employment policies, an evaluation will be carried out of the impact of this level of protection assistance on improving the employability of the beneficiaries.
