The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is negotiating with organisations representing self-employed workers on the draft Statute of the Self-Employed employee. The draft includes the possibility of giving these workers access to an unemployment insurance benefit, to be known as the "cessation of activity benefit".
Written by Josep Conesa
Employment and insolvency lawyer
Entitlement to this benefit is conditional on the principles of contributory funding, solidarity, and financial sustainability being guaranteed — in other words, it requires that contributions from these workers are sufficient to cover the cost of the benefit.
The Council of Ministers is expected to approve this preliminary bill during June, with the new Statute anticipated to come into force in 2007.
The draft sets out the social protection arrangements that will apply to self-employed workers. It specifies that economically dependent self-employed workers — those who work regularly for a single company or a small number of companies — will be subject to specific contribution bases.
In this regard, the draft clarifies that this category of self-employed workers will be required to maintain mandatory coverage for temporary disability (IT), work-related accidents, and occupational illness.
The draft also introduces reductions or rebates on contribution bases for certain self-employed workers, particularly those who do not reach the minimum contribution threshold because they work a limited number of hours.
Finally, it is worth noting that the National Federation of Self-Employed Workers (ATA) has called on the Government to include in the Statute the recognition of the right to early retirement for self-employed workers — a right that has not yet been approved.
