Companies and the self-employed say crisis aid is not so simple
Temporary dismissal proceedings are far from being 'easy and swift' as the government had promised, while self-employed people feel 'abandoned' without any assistance
THE ECONOMIC aid measures promised by the government for companies and the self-employed are not proving to be as 'easy and swift' as announced, firms and workers have complained.
The government promised companies hit by the Covid-19 lockdown could apply for temporary unemployment schemes (ERTE - Expedientes Reguladores Temporales de Empleo) under special circumstances which included full stamp payment on behalf of the state and unemployment benefits for workers that would not be taken into account for future benefits.
In addition, the government said Covid-19 ERTEs would only be approved under the condition that all employees affected could not be dismissed until six months after they were readmitted once the crisis is over.
Finally, the Covid-19 ERTEs were to be 'swiftly' approved within a week (a period later extended to 10 days in view of the avalanche of requests). Everything sounded simple, until the small print stepped in.
From March 12 until March 31, 41,000 ERTEs were presented in the Valencia region alone, affecting over 250,000 employees. However, the regional government's employment secretary admitted this week that only 21,000 ERTEs (just over half) had been processed and approved so far.
Companies applying for ERTEs complain they have come up against a paperwork obstacle course.
Firstly, unless the company has been forced to close down completely (as in the case of bars and hotels), firms have to 'prove' their income has plummeted by at least 70% in order to be able to apply for the special ERTEs due to Covid-19 restrictions.
A perfect example is the newspaper industry. Advertising income has dropped significantly as you can see in our pages these weeks, however, as the media is considered an 'essential service' we continue to work as normal - albeit from home whenever possible.
In such cases, companies had to wait for weekly income reports (from the first week of the lockdown) to prove the drop in figures and then, once they have been compiled, present the ERTE request that can take up to 10 days to approve.
In these cases, which also include other companies that have not suffered a direct closure order (such as non-essential service shops), the delay in getting ERTEs approved can easily be one month.
Bear in mind the figures to be reported are those from the first week of the lockdown. This
Photo by Ángel García is one week lost, then another week to compile everything and present it, then the time it takes for the employment office to approve the ERTE (10 days).
In addition, any company that owns more that one office has to do individual ERTEs for each one of them, adding more time to their approval.
And in the case of larger companies that have offices in more than one region in Spain, different ERTEs have to be presented before each regional employment office.
To summarise, many companies that presented their ERTEs at the beginning of this crisis (the state of emergency was declared on March 14), still haven't seen their temporary unemployment schemes approved.
This means that companies have still had to pay employees full wages for March despite the loss of more than half their income.
Furthermore, employees affected by ERTEs will not be receiving their benefits until the end of this month (April) - and the usual payment day is within the first 10 days of the next month, meaning their dole money may not be paid until May 10.
Self-employed
Many self-employed workers saw their income halt on March 14. And while some sectors were able to continue working initially (certainly not the case of hotel and bar window-cleaners for example), since last week construction work has been stopped and only urgent calls can be taken by tradesmen such as plumbers, electricians, etc.
The self-employed were not taken into account in the first package of economic aid and it was not until the second week that certain allowances would be made.
On March 31, as it is at the end of every month, self-employed licence (autónomo) fees were taken from accounts automatically. These fees vary depending on the sector and income, but average around €350.
That same Tuesday evening, the government announced it would allow the self-employed to delay the payment, even though it had already been made! In any case, the self-employed will not be excused from the fee, they will simply be allowed to pay it gradually at a later date.
Self-employment associations and companies are demanding the government approves further measures to solve their immediate cashflow problem.
Some parties are calling for a full tax exemption for several months - a measure that has been passed in Italy.
Regional aid
The Valencia regional government has announced special grants for self-employed workers.
Up until May 4, they can apply for aid from the Labora regional employment service online.
The conditions are to have been paying self-employment fees at least since December 31 and up until March 14.
They can claim €1,500 if they have ceased trading completely, or €750 if their monthly income has dropped by at least 75% in comparison to the previous six months. Those who declared a net income of over €30,000 from their activity last year are excluded from the aid.
For more information (in Spanish or Valencian) visit www.labora.gva.es/va/ciutad ania
Labora also has a helpline (in Spanish and Valencian) for specific questions regarding employment and rights during the Covid-19 lockdown: 900 353 135.