Spain: broadens access to short time working

On 21 April, the Spanish government announced a series of additional measures to complete, correct and adjust the emergency provisions (c.f. article No.11729) that were put in place at the beginning of the country’s lockdown. In particular, social security coverage for the most vulnerable groups will be extended, by making relaxing access to short time working (ERTE – Temporary Collective Redundancy Scheme due to force majeure) for the most precarious workers.This measure affects those who were undergoing trial periods, as well as seasonal workers in the tourism and agriculture sectors who have not necessarily contributed sufficiently during the previous few months to qualify for entitlements. It especially concerns employees in the hotel and catering industry and the entire tourism sector who usually work under ‘fixed-discontinuous’ contracts and now they will be entitled to a 90-day benefit irrespective of their contributions or previous period of unemployment.The government’s decree also states that companies in sectors deemed essential will also be able to resort to short time working if the health crisis affects some of their activities. It also establishes prioritizing teleworking for a further two months as well as the right to adapt and reduce working hours (with a corresponding reduction in salary) for employees who have to take care of children or dependent relatives.