• Employment: How to know if your ERTE has been approved and if you will access the benefit in May
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About four million workers have already taken up a Temporary Employment Regulation File (ERTE), according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy . The data assumes that temporary unemployments already affect 25.6% of those affiliated to the general social security regime and to the special agrarian and domestic employees regimes in March.

In addition, 1.12 million self-employed , a third of the total, have already applied for aid for cessation of activity. Taking into account the 3.7 million unemployed registered until April 20, according to the State Public Employment Service, about 9 million people would be in the economic situation of unemployment: 40% of the active population in December, which it amounted to 23 million.

The estimate is conservative, as the number increases daily and union sources warn that the barrier of the four million affected by an ERTE that the government figures has already been overcome.

The information collected until the third week of April by the autonomous communities registers a lower figure of employees affected by an ERTE, of 3,236,826 , since it does not take into account the workers of those companies that have centers in more than one autonomy and registered by the General Directorate of Labor.

The situation affects the entire territory, although not in the same way. With the information on the autonomous regions, without counting around 800,000 employees of companies based in different communities, the Canary Islands is at the head of the proportion of workers included in an ERTE in relation to the average number of members in the last month: 30 % . It is followed by Galicia and Castilla y León , with 27% and 24% of affected employees, respectively.

So far, taking into account that the situation varies daily, Extremadura, Murcia and Asturias register lower rates, of around 10% of those involved in ERTEs among the total number of affiliates. These percentages would be higher if the geographical distribution of the total number of affected persons were included, including those compiled by the General Directorate of Labor. The self-employed are not taken into account to calculate these rates since only those with dependent employees can request an ERTE.

Basque Country, Catalonia and Castilla La Mancha offer information on the number of victims by activity sector according to the National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE). Taking into account the average affiliation figures of each branch, ERTEs affect 75.9% of people registered in hospitality in the Basque Country and 69% and 50% of the same sector in Catalonia and Castilla-La Mancha , respectively.

Hotels, bars and restaurants are among the establishments most affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The latest data published by the National Statistics Institute already show the consequences of isolation for the sector. In March, with a first fortnight without restrictions, the number of overnight stays in hotels fell 61% compared to the same month last year.

The ERTEs granted are linked to the Alarm State. No one doubts that it was the mattress that absorbed the first impact of the measures against the virus. "Without this mechanism, at least six million jobs would have been destroyed. ERTEs are an investment that saves those damages," explains Carlos Bravo , CCOO's secretary for Public Policies. Its future development is now in question.

Taking advantage of its benefits requires the reincorporation of 100% of the workforce in six months. "It is totally unaffordable", considers the general secretary of Hospitality of Spain, Emilio Gallego , insofar as the sector will continue to be affected once the confinement ends. "Such is the collapse of the processing of these procedures that the workers have not yet received the second half of March, many of them with a very complicated situation," he adds to argue the sector's request for a postponement that does not imply having to return. to initiate ERTEs once the Alarm Status to which they are currently subject ends.

The rate of temporary unemployment among members of artistic, recreational and entertainment activities is also one of the highest: 61.7% in Catalonia, 38.7% in the Basque Country and 34.5% in Castile -La Mancha.

Other sectors such as construction, manufacturing, commerce and real estate activities also have high incidence rates in these territories.

Some communities provide information on how Ertes are distributed in each sector without taking into account the incidence depending on the affiliates. In Madrid , almost two out of ten processes have been in the hospitality industry. They are followed by retail trade (11%), personal services -hairdressers, dry cleaners and beauty centers- (7.5%), transportation (6%) and health activities such as dentistry, physical therapy and health clinics. different specialties (5%), reported Marta Belver. In Murcia and the Canary Islands, three out of ten ERTEs have been from hospitality companies.

According to the analysis of the dates in which the ERTE requests were made in the territories that provide these data, Madrid, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands, most took place in the first days from the application of the Alarm State and until the end of the month. March while in April the flow of requests has slowed down.

In the months of March and April 2018, a total of 11,393 workers were affected by a procedure of collective dismissal, suspension of contract or reduction of working hours, the most common form to date is an Employment Regulation File (ERE), without temporary character.

A year later, the figure for those two months rose to 22,931 people affected due to increases in these processes in most of the territories, especially in Cantabria, Castilla y León and the Canary Islands, according to the statistics on employment regulation prepared by the Ministry of Labor. and Social Economy.

To know the final data for March we will have to wait until May, they explain from the Ministry. The available information compiled to date shows that the nearly four million victims since mid-March and until almost the last week of April are 170 times more than those affected by labor regulations from the previous year, adding up to full March and April.

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  • Basque Country
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