The Government is considering approving today in the extraordinary Council of Ministers that celebrates different formulas to restrict layoffs in Spain on a temporary basis given the extraordinary situation in which the coronavirus crisis has derived, as reported by Europa Press in sources of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.

The labor consequences of the decree of the state of alarm and the paralysis of the economy are overflowing the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) that works to the limit of its capabilities to deal with the avalanche of requests for Temporary Employment Regulation Files (ERTEs ) launched by companies and layoffs of workers with temporary contracts.

The CCOO and UGT general secretaries, Unai Sordo and Pepe Álvarez, respectively, denounced yesterday that there have been around a million individual layoffs due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of activities decreed in the state of alarm and asked the government to "make it difficult" because there are companies that are not resorting to the ERTEs alternative , which has already suspended more than a million jobs. The latter would currently be covered by a commitment from companies that use the formula not to fire for six months. But it is not clear if the commitment includes legal penalties such as the withdrawal of aid to companies in the form of a reduction in contributions, for example.

Union leaders specified that they propose a moratorium on the Italian (the Alpine country has prohibited firing for two months); raise the severance pay to 45 days per year worked, with a minimum equivalent to an interprofessional minimum wage (SMI), and / or condition the aid and subsidies that have been established for companies (for example, guarantees to provide liquidity) to don't lay off workers.

In addition, the SEPE has limited in an internal instruction the maximum amounts that can be received by workers covered by ERTEs, according to the Heraldo de Aragón. Sources from the Ministry of Labor have confirmed that the Cabinet is also evaluating this limit, which would be 1,098 for all workers , regardless of their family situation. Ordinarily, benefits take into account if the recipient has children and if he is a large family. The registration problems that are occurring have led the body to activate the registrations with this limit and avoid the jams that would be the confirmation of each profile. Families with children and large families must claim their supplements, which will be paid later, indicate unofficial sources familiar with the process.

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