The Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, announced this Monday that she wants to allow compatibility between unemployment benefits and a salary for a job. All this within the framework of the social dialogue table for the reform of the level of unemployment assistance. It also announced a specific subsidy for women victims of sexist violence.
Díaz, in statements to TVE, stated that he hopes to soon reach an agreement with the social agents on this reform. The minister recalled that in the subsidy reform that was proposed at the time and that overthrew Parliament, it allowed unemployment benefits to be made compatible with a job. “Well, now we take a step further and allow compatibility with the contributory unemployment benefit,” said the vice president.
Current legislation allows the unemployment benefit or subsidy to be made compatible with the salary of a part-time job and with self-employment. Only if you are over 52 years of age and receive a subsidy can it be combined with a full-time contract.
The vice president believes that the unions are providing “very positive” measures in the negotiation. He gives as an example the elimination of partial subsidies, which will now be collected in full.
In this way, Díaz added, a legal aspect that had a gender impact will be corrected, since it fundamentally harmed women, and about which the European Court of Justice had been warning Spain.
Asked if she expects an agreement today with the social agents, the vice president said that first we have to see how the meeting this Monday goes. “Let’s first see how today’s dialogue table goes and then we will tell what the parliamentary procedure is like.”he pointed out.
The subsidy reform is one of the milestones linked to the fourth disbursement of the ‘Next Generation EU’ funds. The Executive must respond to this request before May 20. Then the extension that Spain agreed with Brussels for the evaluation of this disbursement, of 10,021 million euros, ends.
Likewise, he emphasizes that before the summer the social dialogue table that addresses the reduction of working hours will close, with two objectives. On the one hand, cut the working day to “have more time to live.” On the other hand, correct the time control because “it does not work correctly.”
«We are working so that the Labor Inspection can know at all times what the actual performance of the hours worked is. Life time, work time, in short, living better. And we will do it before this summer,” said Díaz.
Regarding the position of the CEOE at this table, the minister, in statements to Telecinco, pointed out that the employers, like the unions, are working “with great rigor.” Although she believes that “she is divided between a sector that wants to legislate on the reduction of working hours and time control and another sector that does not.”
«In employers’ associations sometimes there is more politics than in other places. It is a legitimate debate that the Spanish employers’ association has to give, which I will respect,” he stressed.
Díaz has stated that, with the agreement of the employers, the average working day in collective agreements has been reduced to 38.5 hours per week. “Therefore, the Spanish employers know that this measure is not only possible but necessary,” he points out.
