SPAIN'S headcount has risen to its highest figure in history – for the first time ever, the population has broken the 48 million barrier.
Temporary lay-offs 'here to stay' and other reassurances from ministry of work
03/09/2020
TEMPORARY lay-offs or 'furloughs' are 'here to stay' for as long as they are needed, parents are set to get 75% of their salary in extended sick leave for caring for children forced into quarantine without a diagnosis, and a law covering home-working employees is about to come into force any day, says minister of work Yolanda Díaz (pictured).
The Podemos minister was interviewed on the Balearic TV channel IB3 and said temporary 'redundancies' – where staff are automatically called back to work as soon as the business situation allows it and are able to claim dole money in the meantime irrespective of previous Social Security contributions – 'need to stay for as long as they are necessary'.
This figure, similar to the 'furlough' system in the UK, was introduced to avoid companies affected by the pandemic having to make mass redundancies, which would have led to widespread unemployment and another financial crisis, and is State-funded.
It also prevents firms having to shut down for good if they cannot afford to pay wages.
The right-wing PP wanted the temporary lay-offs to be extended to June 2021, given that the most lucrative months for the tourism industry are now over and recovery in the sector cannot even truly start until then.
“It would be absurd to put an end date on it”
But Yolanda Díaz says: “It would be absurd to put dates on it, although I might be wrong.
“They should remain in place for as long as they are necessary, and they're here to stay.”
Temporary lay-offs, or ERTEs, are mainly being used in the tourism, transport, leisure, arts and entertainments industries, and travel agencies, and that around 700,000 people are currently on 'furlough'.
Sra Díaz says Spain needs to work on 'rechannelling' its tourism industry, which still relies heavily upon foreign visitors – particularly northern Europeans – and sunshine and beach breaks, even though this represents the tip of a very large iceberg of Spain's unique attractions and offers; treating Spanish destinations as merely a source of hot weather and a beach to relax on is rather like booking a table in an highly-affordable Michelin-starred restaurant and ordering egg and chips.
“It would be a mistake not to look after our tourism industry, given that it represents 12% of our GDP,” admits Yolanda Díaz.
Dole money at 70% after first six months, not 50%
She was asked on IB3 about whether dole money would be restored to 70% of the claimant's salary after the first six months – during this period, the former employee takes home practically the same as he or she was earning whilst working – given that the PP voted, when it was in power, to reduce this to 50% from month seven onwards.
“I'm in favour of keeping financial protection at the levels they were before the PP approved the reduction, and for it to continue to be 70% after the first six months,” she said.
Except during an ERTE, when the claimant has not actually lost his or her job but is merely on unpaid leave until the situation improves, dole money is finite and conditioned according to previous Social Security contributions made through employment – one month's dole money per four months worked, up to a maximum of two years – meaning that although the amount paid out is high enough that the claimant does not have to worry about finding a job instantly and can spend time recovering from the shock, searching for the right rôle, retraining or building on existing skills, nobody would be tempted to 'live off the State' and avoid searching for work since, once the pot has run dry, no more money is forthcoming until it has been built up again.
Working-from-home legislation
Yolanda Díaz was asked about the imminent legislation covering working from home – a situation that was rare in Spain, even where it was perfectly possible, for those on a job contract rather than self-employed, but which has suddenly become widespread due to the pandemic.
Issues covered could involve working hours – which may become more flexible in some jobs where the tasks actually completed take precedence over a strict start-and-finish timetable – the employee's right to 'disconnect', or to stop having to answer emails or phone calls after a certain time or after given tasks are finished, the level of supervision required, allowed, or desired, who pays the cost of equipment and utilities used, and whether the home-working situation is permanent, temporary, part- or full-time, in the case of those employees and bosses who want or need to be or to have staff on the premises on certain days of the week or for a certain percentage of working life, to prevent isolation from colleagues.
“Next week – very shortly – the new law will be with the Council of Ministers,” says Sra Díaz.
This, a working group of representatives from each government department, has the job of debating, amending and signing off new legislation, and a law text reaching the Council of Ministers is the final stage before it is brought into effect.
“We've ended up creating five different drafts during our talks with different associations,” she admits, and thanked all those involved for their input.
Paid 'sick leave' for parents of quarantined children
Concerning parents being allowed paid time off if their children are ordered to self-isolate due to having been in contact with a Covid-19 patient, even before they have been diagnosed themselves, or being kept off school due to displaying suspect symptoms pending testing, Yolanda Díaz was asked about the apparent contradiction between deputy president Pablo Iglesias (Podemos) and treasury minister María Jesús Montero (socialists, or PSOE), with the former saying this would be permitted and the latter saying that, at present, only the right to unpaid leave was guaranteed.
“We're working on extending conditions for temporary incapacity so as to cover those parents whose children have symptoms but have not yet been diagnosed, and to those parents whose children have not yet been tested but are required to quarantine,” assures Yolanda Díaz.
“We consider this to be a temporary incapacity by proxy caused by quarantine.
“Also, we want to extend the plan Me Cuida ['I'm being looked after', roughly translated] which allows parents to reduce their working hours and receive a pro-rata salary, or to adapt their working hours, to attend to their care duties.”
Naturally, she was asked about whether taxes would have to go up to cover the various government schemes in place to prevent workers and families facing financial hardship or being tempted – or even forced – to continue going to work or sending their kids to school where there was a known contagion risk.
“What's more important than 'increasing or cutting taxes' is 'who is paying taxes',” argues Sra Díaz.
“For example, multi-national technology giants are paying just a handful of millions in profit tax, whilst REPSOL, a Spanish corporation [gas and motor fuel] paid €1.4 billion. And that's deeply unfair.”
Related Topics
TEMPORARY lay-offs or 'furloughs' are 'here to stay' for as long as they are needed, parents are set to get 75% of their salary in extended sick leave for caring for children forced into quarantine without a diagnosis, and a law covering home-working employees is about to come into force any day, says minister of work Yolanda Díaz (pictured).
The Podemos minister was interviewed on the Balearic TV channel IB3 and said temporary 'redundancies' – where staff are automatically called back to work as soon as the business situation allows it and are able to claim dole money in the meantime irrespective of previous Social Security contributions – 'need to stay for as long as they are necessary'.
This figure, similar to the 'furlough' system in the UK, was introduced to avoid companies affected by the pandemic having to make mass redundancies, which would have led to widespread unemployment and another financial crisis, and is State-funded.
It also prevents firms having to shut down for good if they cannot afford to pay wages.
The right-wing PP wanted the temporary lay-offs to be extended to June 2021, given that the most lucrative months for the tourism industry are now over and recovery in the sector cannot even truly start until then.
“It would be absurd to put an end date on it”
But Yolanda Díaz says: “It would be absurd to put dates on it, although I might be wrong.
“They should remain in place for as long as they are necessary, and they're here to stay.”
Temporary lay-offs, or ERTEs, are mainly being used in the tourism, transport, leisure, arts and entertainments industries, and travel agencies, and that around 700,000 people are currently on 'furlough'.
Sra Díaz says Spain needs to work on 'rechannelling' its tourism industry, which still relies heavily upon foreign visitors – particularly northern Europeans – and sunshine and beach breaks, even though this represents the tip of a very large iceberg of Spain's unique attractions and offers; treating Spanish destinations as merely a source of hot weather and a beach to relax on is rather like booking a table in an highly-affordable Michelin-starred restaurant and ordering egg and chips.
“It would be a mistake not to look after our tourism industry, given that it represents 12% of our GDP,” admits Yolanda Díaz.
Dole money at 70% after first six months, not 50%
She was asked on IB3 about whether dole money would be restored to 70% of the claimant's salary after the first six months – during this period, the former employee takes home practically the same as he or she was earning whilst working – given that the PP voted, when it was in power, to reduce this to 50% from month seven onwards.
“I'm in favour of keeping financial protection at the levels they were before the PP approved the reduction, and for it to continue to be 70% after the first six months,” she said.
Except during an ERTE, when the claimant has not actually lost his or her job but is merely on unpaid leave until the situation improves, dole money is finite and conditioned according to previous Social Security contributions made through employment – one month's dole money per four months worked, up to a maximum of two years – meaning that although the amount paid out is high enough that the claimant does not have to worry about finding a job instantly and can spend time recovering from the shock, searching for the right rôle, retraining or building on existing skills, nobody would be tempted to 'live off the State' and avoid searching for work since, once the pot has run dry, no more money is forthcoming until it has been built up again.
Working-from-home legislation
Yolanda Díaz was asked about the imminent legislation covering working from home – a situation that was rare in Spain, even where it was perfectly possible, for those on a job contract rather than self-employed, but which has suddenly become widespread due to the pandemic.
Issues covered could involve working hours – which may become more flexible in some jobs where the tasks actually completed take precedence over a strict start-and-finish timetable – the employee's right to 'disconnect', or to stop having to answer emails or phone calls after a certain time or after given tasks are finished, the level of supervision required, allowed, or desired, who pays the cost of equipment and utilities used, and whether the home-working situation is permanent, temporary, part- or full-time, in the case of those employees and bosses who want or need to be or to have staff on the premises on certain days of the week or for a certain percentage of working life, to prevent isolation from colleagues.
“Next week – very shortly – the new law will be with the Council of Ministers,” says Sra Díaz.
This, a working group of representatives from each government department, has the job of debating, amending and signing off new legislation, and a law text reaching the Council of Ministers is the final stage before it is brought into effect.
“We've ended up creating five different drafts during our talks with different associations,” she admits, and thanked all those involved for their input.
Paid 'sick leave' for parents of quarantined children
Concerning parents being allowed paid time off if their children are ordered to self-isolate due to having been in contact with a Covid-19 patient, even before they have been diagnosed themselves, or being kept off school due to displaying suspect symptoms pending testing, Yolanda Díaz was asked about the apparent contradiction between deputy president Pablo Iglesias (Podemos) and treasury minister María Jesús Montero (socialists, or PSOE), with the former saying this would be permitted and the latter saying that, at present, only the right to unpaid leave was guaranteed.
“We're working on extending conditions for temporary incapacity so as to cover those parents whose children have symptoms but have not yet been diagnosed, and to those parents whose children have not yet been tested but are required to quarantine,” assures Yolanda Díaz.
“We consider this to be a temporary incapacity by proxy caused by quarantine.
“Also, we want to extend the plan Me Cuida ['I'm being looked after', roughly translated] which allows parents to reduce their working hours and receive a pro-rata salary, or to adapt their working hours, to attend to their care duties.”
Naturally, she was asked about whether taxes would have to go up to cover the various government schemes in place to prevent workers and families facing financial hardship or being tempted – or even forced – to continue going to work or sending their kids to school where there was a known contagion risk.
“What's more important than 'increasing or cutting taxes' is 'who is paying taxes',” argues Sra Díaz.
“For example, multi-national technology giants are paying just a handful of millions in profit tax, whilst REPSOL, a Spanish corporation [gas and motor fuel] paid €1.4 billion. And that's deeply unfair.”
Related Topics
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