If an ERTE has been carried out in your company due to force majeure after the decree of suspension of activity or closure of the establishment where you worked and now you are lockedown at home, you may be wondering what is going to happen, how you will be paid, how much and by whom .

What is an ERTE?

An ERTE is a Temporary Lay-off procedure, and as its name indicates, it is processed to temporarily suspend an employment contract.

If when the temporary period established in the ERTE ends, your contract is still in force, it will be reactivated again, and you will have to return to work.

During the ERTE duration, the employee does NOT work, and the company does NOT pay the employee’s salary.

The employee will be paid by the Public State Employment Service (SEPE), that is, you will collect what is called “unemployment benefit”

How long will it last?

An ERTE ends when the situation that caused it has ended. In the exceptional circumstances in which we find ourselves, if the ERTE in your company has been motivated by force majeure after the declaration of the state of emergency, the ERTE will end with the decree of the end of the state of emergency.

How much will I receive and who will pay me?

Exceptionally, the government has approved that employees affected by an ERTE due to force majeure after the decree of the state of emergency, will not need to have previously contributed for at least 360 days, nor have incomes below 75% of the interprofessional minimum, to be able to receive the unemployment benefit.

This unemployment benefit will consist of:
o 70% of the regulatory base of gross salary for the first 180 days.
o 50% of the regulatory base of gross salary from day 181 until the end of the unemployment benefit.

The amount to receive depends on family circumstances and the regulatory base, but is usually between 850,00 euros to 1.050,00 euros.

Regarding the payroll for the month of March, companies will pay for the period that has elapsed from March 1st 2020 to the start date of the ERTE communicated by your company, and the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) will pay for the period elapsed from that date until the end of the month March 2020. If the state of emergency is extended during the month of April, the SEPE will pay the unemployment benefit for the days of April that are within said period.

Exceptionally, the government has also approved that unemployment benefits received during the ERTE will not consume the right to receive future unemployment benefits; this is called “zero counter“.

What do I have to do to apply for the unemployment benefit in these periods of lock-down?

Normally, in an unemployment situation, applications to receive unemployment benefit are processed at the employment offices of the town where you live, however in the current circumstances of confinement, each Autonomous Community is communicating different ways of applying for it through the website of their Employment Service.

In Andalusia, the Andalusian Employment Service (SAE) is reporting on the following:

You do NOT have to request the unemployment benefit; but you DO have to enrol or re-enrol with the Andalusian Employment Service, SAE, in order for the SEPE authorization to be processed. (Click here for more info)

A) I HAVE NEVER BEEN REGISTERED IN THE ANDALUSIAN EMPLOYMENT SERVICE: YOU HAVE TO REGISTER.

It is important that you process your registration in the Andalusian Employment Service if you have never been registered in it, at the moment this option is only posible by phone. Clicking on this text you can find the telephones enabled for the province of Malaga.

You can also call 952 997 098 to find out what phone number to call to contact the Employment Service of the town where you reside. Clicking on this text you can see more information.

B)  I HAVE BEEN ENROLLED PREVIOUSLY IN THE ANDALUSIAN EMPLOYMENT SERVICE: YOU HAVE TO RE-ENROLL. It is recommended to check that they have your data updated.

To re-enrol you can call by phone or access the service enabled on the SAE website (click here)

You can also re-enrol with your mobile through the SAE app (click here)