On 25 June, the Spanish government and social partners reached an agreement on the conditions for extending the short time working arrangements that were implemented when the state of alert was declared in the country and economic activity was paralysed by the Covid-19 pandemic. This second ‘social agreement in defence of employment’ comes after weeks of tense negotiations between Spain’s labour ministry, the CEOE and Cepyme employer confederations, and the CCOO and UGT trade unions. The agreement will be validated at an extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting today, on 26 June, for an immediate implementation via decree-law. It extends the temporary employment regulation plans (ERTEs, equivalent of short time working), which were introduced by decree on 18 March and extended on 11 May, until 30 September. However, the level of exemptions from employer contributions will be lower than has been in force until now. The issue of how long this latest extension would last, as well as the quantity of state support to help protect jobs, was at the heart of the discussions.
Differences depending on the level to which business resumes. The agreement maintains the two types of ERTEs for force majeure, which the government wanted to abolish. These are the ERTEs for total force majeure, for companies that have not recommenced business, and the ERTEs for partial force majeure, for companies that have started to recover by ‘withdrawing’ part of their staff from the ERTE scheme.
Companies subject to an ERTE for total force majeure, in other words those whose employees are all suspended from work, will be eligible for an exemption from employer contributions of 70% in July, 60% in August and 35% in September, in the case of firms with fewer than 50 employees.
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