Summary of the measures published in the R.D. 152/2022 of February 22, 2022.
Regarding the MINIMUM INTERPROFESSIONAL SALARY: The minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) is raised to 1,000 euros per month with effect from January 1.
As for the ERTE, the decree that automatically extends the temporary employment regulation files (ERTE) derived from the pandemic until March 31 has also been published, for its entry into force TODAY.
This latest rule also includes the extension of aid for self-employed workers affected by the pandemic.
The extension of the ERTE-Covid until March 31 will be done automatically, so that the affected companies and workers will not have to carry out any management. In this way, the ERTE of limitation and impediment and the ERTE for economic, technical, organizational and production (ETOP) reasons of pandemic are extended. The rule maintains the current protection mechanisms, such as the ‘zero counter’ and the exemption from the grace period, mechanisms that, from now on, will be applied structurally to the force majeure ERTEs provided for in the labor reform. The extraordinary benefit for people with a discontinuous fixed contract is also extended for one month.
Now, although the conditions of protection for workers remain unchanged until March 31, the exemptions from quotas that companies enjoy in their payments to Social Security do change with respect to those currently established. Thus, during the month of March, companies, regardless of their size, will have a 60% exemption on their payments to Social Security if they provide training to workers in ERTE, compared to the current 80%.
In case of not providing training, the exemption will be 20% (now it is 40%) in companies with more than ten employees and 30% if they have less than ten employees. The exemption for impediment ERTEs will be 90%. With the month of extension given by the Government to the pandemic ERTE, it is intended that companies and workers have time to adapt to the new ERTE incorporated in the labor reform. Thus, they will have additional time to activate the ERTE ETOP, which require consultations between the company and workers, and they will be able to prepare the required training plans.
Finally, and in relation to the SELF-EMPLOYED, the ERTE decree also includes the extension until the end of June of aid for the pandemic for self-employed workers. The first group of these aids aims to facilitate the reactivation of the activity of the self-employed and, in a similar way to what was done from October 2021, exemptions are established in social contributions for the next four months.
Specifically, the more than 110,000 self-employed workers who have so far been receiving the extraordinary benefits associated with the pandemic will be exempted from their Social Security contribution of 90% in March, 75% in April, 50% in May and 25% in June. To receive these exonerations in the contribution, self-employed workers must remain registered in the corresponding special Social Security regime until June 30, 2022.
That is, for this group, this month of FEBRUARY will be the last in which they will receive the benefit, since the only thing that is extended is the BONUS system of the quota, in the indicated percentages.