The Government will create an inter-ministerial commission to evaluate the effects of the reform and a strategy for long-term unemployed

The Royal Decree-Law that reforms the unemployment benefit, which will be higher during the first year of receipt, compatible with employment during the first 180 days without loss of benefit, and will be linked to the signing of an activity agreement for part of its beneficiaries, will come into force, in general, on June 1, 2024, according to the rule published this Wednesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

Thus, the text specifies that all people who have exhausted the contributory benefit since April 30, 2024, as well as those who, at the time of the entry into force of the rule, do not They had completed the previous month of waiting to request the subsidy.

Those who, as of June 1, 2024, had requested or were beneficiaries or had the subsidy suspended due to exhaustion of the contributory benefit, due to insufficient contributions or the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, will be governed by the regulations prior to this reform until the right expires. .

INTERMINISTERIAL COMMISSION AND PLAN FOR THE LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYED

Two years after the entry into force of the rule, the Government will create an inter-ministerial commission to evaluate the effects of this reform on the level of unemployment assistance, as well as to study the harmonization of Social Security assistance benefits. This commission will be made up of the ministries of Labor, Inclusion, Economy and Finance.

The Government also undertakes within the framework of this reform to design with the social agents within a period of six months a global strategy to promote the employment of the long-term or older unemployed, which will include measures regarding employment, training and working conditions and Social Security.

Recipients of the subsidy over 45 years of age are guaranteed in this rule that throughout 2024 they will have an individualized profile to allow them to access employment, entrepreneurship or training opportunities.

The unemployment benefit reform approved in the Council of Ministers this Tuesday expands the universe of beneficiaries, currently from about 800,000 people, to more than one million, as well as the amounts to be received during the first year of the benefit.

Specifically, the reform increases the unemployment benefit, currently 480 euros per month, the equivalent of 80% of the Iprem, to 570 euros during the first six months of receipt (95% of the Iprem) and to 540 euros per month in the following six months. (90% of the Iprem) and then recover 80% of the Iprem until its termination, which remains at a maximum of 30 months, depending on age, family circumstances and the duration of the exhausted benefit.

These amounts are what would correspond to the subsidy with the current Iprem, which is 600 euros per month. If this indicator increases, so would the amount of the subsidy, since what the reform sets are the percentages of the Iprem to which the aid must be equivalent. Of course, these new amounts will apply to the new recipients recognized as of the entry into force of the reform, not to the previous ones.

Regarding the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, its amount remains at 80% of the Iprem, but the Government compensates by extending its duration and by contributions for the retirement contingency that the rest of the subsidies lack.

Thus, to recipients of the subsidy for those over 52 years of age who are granted this subsidy on June 1, 2024 or on a later date, Social Security will contribute for the retirement contingency during receipt of the same as follows: in 2024 The contribution base will be equivalent to 120% of the minimum base of the General Regime in force at any time; in 2025 it will be equivalent to 115%; in 2026 to 110%, and in 2027, to 105%. If the subsidy was granted before June 1, 2024, the contribution base will continue to be 125%.

HIGHER AMOUNTS AND MORE PROTECTED GROUPS

The reform also incorporates into the subsidy those under 45 years of age without family responsibilities (about 150,000, according to Labor estimates) and potential farmers residing outside Andalusia and Extremadura (about 250,000), as well as cross-border workers from Ceuta and Melilla. .

The reform reduces the assumptions of general access to aid to two: the subsidy for exhaustion of the contributory benefit and for insufficient contributions, and maintains the subsidy for those over 52 years of age, which will continue to be equivalent to 80% of the Iprem.

The text unifies the requirements for access to Agrarian Income and the subsidy for temporary workers of the Special Agrarian System on the reciprocal calculation of contributions from the PROFEA (Plan for the Promotion of Agrarian Employment).

In addition, the duration of this subsidy is unified in cases of having family responsibilities regardless of the age at the time the benefit is exhausted. Those who prove contribution periods of less than six months and lack family responsibilities may also qualify for the subsidy for insufficient contributions.

WITHOUT A MONTH OF WAITING AND COMPATIBLE WITH A JOB

The rule establishes the possibility of making the subsidy compatible for each new full- or part-time job during the first 180 days without loss of amount through the receipt of an employment support supplement, which will range from 5% to 80%. of the Iprem depending on the quarter of receipt, whether the job is full-time or part-time and the hours worked.

The subsidy will not be compatible with employed employment when the hiring is carried out by companies immersed in an ERE or in which the unemployed person has worked during the previous year.

Unemployment benefits (contributory and subsidy) will be compatible with scholarships and aid obtained for attending vocational or on-the-job training actions or for carrying out external training or academic internships in public or private entities that are part of the study plan and occur within the framework of collaboration between said entities and the educational center in question.

The reform improves accessibility to the subsidy by eliminating the month-long wait after exhaustion of the contributory benefit to submit the application, also extending the application period to six months. In general, the right to the subsidy will arise on the day of your application, disappearing the so-called days consumed due to a late application.

THE SUBSIDY WILL BE SUSPENDED IF THE ACTIVITY AGREEMENT IS DISRUPTED

The benefit will be linked to a personalized employment activation itinerary through the signing of an activity agreement within the framework of the Employment Law, with a set of services that establish reciprocal rights and obligations between the person requesting public employment services. employment to increase the employability of beneficiaries.

In the new regulation of the level of assistance, accreditation is maintained before the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) and also before the regional public employment services of actions aimed at the active search for employment, job reintegration or improvement of employability.

The rule guarantees beneficiaries the service of individual tutoring, continuous advice and personalized attention, and introduces a new cause for suspension of the benefit and unemployment subsidy: the interruption of the activity agreement. With this, the Government argues, the aim is to reaffirm the link between unemployment benefits and the monitoring of job placement measures.