On 11 January 2023, Royal Decree-Law 1/2023 of 10 January was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on urgent measures in the field of employment incentives as of 1 September 2023.
When it comes to processing the bonuses for permanent employment contracts, the beneficiary must keep the recipient of the measure in a situation of registration, or similar to registration, with the obligation to pay contributions for at least three years from the start date of the contract.
On 11 January 2023, Royal Decree-Law 1/2023 of 10 January was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on urgent measures regarding incentives for employment hiring as from 1 September 2023.
The purpose of the new regulation is to regulate incentives aimed at promoting employment hiring, as well as other programs or measures to promote and maintain stable and quality employment financed by means of rebates on Social Security contributions and joint collection concepts or developed by means of other employment support instruments.
The new regulation will enter into force on 1 September 2023, with some exceptions set out in its thirteenth final provision (such as the obligation to reimburse aid for relocation, the ex officio review in the area of acts of registration due to non-compliance with legal requirements or the benefits regime in the case of ERTE or the RED Mechanism).
A very important issue when it comes to processing the bonuses for permanent employment contracts, including the transformation of contracts provided for in the regulation, is that the beneficiary must keep the recipient of the measure in a situation of registration, or similar to registration, with the obligation to pay contributions for at least three years from the start date of the contract, The company must be aware that if it fails to comply with this requirement of paying contributions for at least three years from the start of the contract, it will see the bonus amount returned with the corresponding surcharge, so it must assess before the subsidized hiring whether or not it wants to take advantage of this incentive.
MAIN MEASURES RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT INCENTIVES
The purpose of the new law is to regulate incentives aimed at promoting employment contracts, as well as other programs or measures to promote and maintain stable, quality employment financed by means of rebates on Social Security contributions and joint collection concepts, or developed by means of other employment support instruments.
The main novelties and aspects of interest are summarized below.
In relation to the general conditions of the measures:
– The rule regulates the requirements to be a beneficiary, very briefly: not having been disqualified from obtaining public subsidies and aid or excluded from access to aid, subsidies, bonuses and benefits, being up to date in the fulfilment of their tax obligations, being up to date in the fulfilment of their Social Security payment obligations or having the corresponding equality plan, in the case of companies obliged to implement it (which will be understood to be fulfilled with the obligatory registration in the public register of the plan).
– In the case of subsidies for indefinite-term employment contracts, including the transformation of contracts provided for in the regulation, and for the incorporation, on an indefinite-term basis, as worker or worker-members in cooperatives and worker-owned companies, the beneficiary must maintain the recipient of the measure in a situation of registration, or similar to registration, with the obligation to pay contributions for at least three years from the start date of the subsidized contract, transformation or incorporation.
– The list of causes of termination in which, for the purposes of compliance with these obligations, the termination of contracts will not be taken into account includes, among others, dismissals for objective or disciplinary reasons that have not been declared or recognized as unfair, collective dismissals that have not been declared not in accordance with the law, the expiry of the agreed time in the case of training or fixed-term contracts or the termination due to the end of the call of employees with permanent-discontinuous contracts.
– Failure to comply with the obligations to maintain the registration will result in the loss of the right to the corresponding benefits with the obligation to reimburse under the terms set out in the regulation.
– With regard to exclusions, the hiring incentives will not apply in a number of cases, such as hiring employees who in the previous twelve months had provided services in the same company under an open-ended contract (or in the last six months under a fixed-term contract or a training contract) or workers who have left under an open-ended employment contract for another employer within the previous three months (except when the termination of the contract is due to recognized or declared unfair dismissal, or collective dismissal).
Likewise, companies that have terminated or terminate incentivized contracts due to recognized or declared unfair dismissal or collective dismissal will be excluded for a period of twelve months from the hiring incentives (which will be counted from the recognition or declaration of unfairness or termination due to collective dismissal). The exclusion will affect a number of contracts equal to the number of terminations that have occurred.
The regulation lays down the conditions, requirements, amounts and periods for taking advantage of the measures. The main measures are as follows:
– Allowances for the execution of alternating training contracts, for the transformation of training and relief contracts into indefinite-term contracts, for the indefinite-term contracting or incorporation as a partner in the cooperative or labor company of persons who carry out practical training in companies, for alternating training, or for the contracting of research personnel under the pre-doctoral contract modality.
– Allowances for substitution by the unemployed of workers in certain cases, for the contribution of substituted workers during the situations of birth and care of a child, co-responsible care of a nursing child, risk during pregnancy and risk during breastfeeding, in the event of a change of job due to risk during pregnancy or risk during breastfeeding and in the event of occupational illness or for the hiring of women who are victims of gender violence, sexual violence and human trafficking and sexual or labor exploitation.
– Other cases provided for in the regulation are bonuses for: the hiring of people with limited intellectual capacity, employees reinstated after leaving the company due to permanent disability, for the indefinite-term hiring of people in a situation of social exclusion and the long-term unemployed, or for the transformation of temporary contracts in the agricultural regime into permanent-discontinuous contracts, among others.
The law also provides for other employment support instruments, such as the possibility for collective bargaining to include commitments to maintain or increase employment, the conversion of training or relief contracts into permanent contracts or the improvement of permanent employment, or for the Government to establish measures to encourage the voluntary implementation of equality plans.
The additional provisions also include other cases of bonuses, such as, for example, for the indefinite-term hiring of young people with low qualifications who are beneficiaries of the National Youth Guarantee System, for the hiring of people with disabilities, or in the employer’s Social Security contributions for research personnel.
HIRING INCENTIVES
Hiring incentives as of 1 September 2023 focus on permanent contracts with priority groups, as well as on the transformation of certain temporary contracts into permanent contracts. By way of summary, the following stand out:
– Indefinite-term contracts for young people with low qualifications who are beneficiaries of the National Youth Guarantee System. The new regulation introduces in its first Additional Provision a rebate of 275 euros for 3 years for the indefinite-term hiring of young people registered in the National Youth Guarantee System with low qualifications.
– Readmission of people in the event of PD: The readmission of workers who have left the company due to total or absolute permanent disability is subsidized to improve the employability of this group and is limited to permanent contracts and to cases in which the readmission is not due to a right of the worker, limits that are not contemplated in the current regulation. Also, as a novelty, these bonuses are extended to cases of people over 55 years of age with permanent incapacity who are reinstated in their company in another category, as well as people over that age who recover their capacity and could be hired by another company.
– Hiring of socially excluded persons: The subsidy currently provided for the indefinite-term hiring of socially excluded persons (€55/month) is increased to €128/month, thus matching the subsidy established for the indefinite-term hiring of other vulnerable groups.
– Hiring of long-term unemployed persons: The indefinite-term hiring of long-term unemployed persons entitles to a higher bonus when the person hired is a woman (€128/month, instead of €110/month). This higher bonus also applies to the hiring of people aged 45 or over.
– Training contract for alternation. With regard to the alternation training contract, it establishes bonus amounts, instead of percentages, equivalent to those that would result from applying 75% to the single business quotas foreseen for this contract and 100% depending on the size of the company. The bonuses currently provided for work-linked training allow the financing of both training costs and tutoring costs in the company, limiting the former to the training activity that, linked to the contract, is carried out in the workplace. On the other hand, the bonus for tutoring costs would be applicable to all companies.
– Conversion of training contracts into open-ended contracts: The benefits in Social Security contributions provided for the conversion of training contracts into permanent contracts also have new features derived from the unification of their regulation and increase their amount by 200% to match the amount provided for the conversion of alternating training contracts into permanent contracts. In addition, as with the rebate for the transformation of the relief contract, the regulation eliminates the fact that only companies with fewer than 50 employees can benefit from this rebate, as is currently the case.
– Indefinite-term hiring of people with limited intellectual capacity: The indefinite-term hiring of people with limited intellectual capacity will entitle them to a contribution rebate of 128 euros/month for four years.
– Hiring of women who are victims of gender violence, sexual violence and human trafficking: The indefinite-term hiring of women who have accredited status as victims of gender violence, sexual violence or human trafficking, sexual exploitation or labor exploitation, and women in contexts of prostitution will entitle them to a contribution rebate of 128 euros/month for four years.
– Social economy and sectors: Allowances are established for the incorporation of unemployed workers as worker or work partners in cooperatives and labor companies. Special attention is given to young people under 30 years of age, or people under 35 years of age with a recognized degree of disability equal to or greater than 33 per cent.
– Family reconciliation: a) Fixed-term contracts signed with unemployed young people to replace workers in certain cases; b) Reductions in contributions for workers replaced during the birth and care of a minor, joint responsibility for the care of a breastfeeding minor, risk during pregnancy and risk during breastfeeding; c) Changes of job due to risk during pregnancy or breastfeeding, as well as cases of occupational illness.
For further information, please consult with Labor counsellingIt is necessary that all companies have a protocol for the prevention and action against any type of harassment to prevent, raise awareness and, where appropriate, attack with all the guarantees these forms of violence and discrimination in the workplace.
On July 14, 2022, Law 15/2022, of July 12, 2022, on equal treatment and non-discrimination came into force (published in BOE de 13 de julio).
The purpose of this new Law is to prevent and eradicate any form of discrimination and to effectively protect victims in all areas of society, including the workplace. According to the explanatory memorandum of the Law, the aim is to transpose the objectives and purposes of Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC in a more appropriate manner, as well as to incorporate certain constitutional jurisprudence on Article 14 of the Spanish Constitution (EC).
One of the most relevant novelties around employment, following the normative guideline of Organic Law 3/2007, of March 22, 2007, for the effective equality of women and men, is the obligation of companies, regardless of the number of workers they have, to have and apply instruments to detect, prevent and cease discriminatory situations.
In this sense, it is necessary that all companies have a protocol for the prevention and action against any type of harassment to prevent, raise awareness and, where appropriate, attack with all the guarantees these forms of violence and discrimination in the workplace.
Failure on the part of the companies to have and apply the referred harassment protocols not only implies a very serious administrative infraction, which can be sanctioned by the Labor Inspectorate with fines of up to 500,000. -Euros, but it can also have important economic implications and consequences for the company in those cases in which the worker sues for null dismissal or in claim for damages, arguing the existence of harassment in the company, since if a situation of discrimination occurred within the company and these obligations had not been complied with, the company could be liable for the damage caused, being obliged to reinstate the dismissed worker and to compensate him/her for the damages caused.
From our firm we offer our clients the possibility of downloading the referred harassment protocols free of charge, although, as the legal regulations indicate, it is not enough to have them, but the company must implement and apply the necessary instruments to detect, prevent and cease discriminatory situations, constituting complaint channels, providing training to its workers in this matter, holding follow-up meetings, etc.
It is for this reason, and in order to help our clients comply effectively with the aforementioned regulations, we have a specific service from our legal area so that all our clients can comply with the legal obligation to have and apply the aforementioned harassment protocols in labor matters, so if you want us to process, both the protocol and the training and other instruments necessary to comply, you can send us an email to gremicat@gremicat.es and we will send you a budget for this purpose.
For more information, please contact our Legal Department
