The Government is considering approving the extension of the ERTE today to avoid a wave of massive layoffs

The Government is already studying this morning in the Council of Ministers the agreement produced late yesterday between employers and unions to extend on the temporary employment regulation files (ERTE) produced since last March 16 an extension that helps save from dismissal of at least 3.3 million workers who have suspended employment.

The social partners have been trying for weeks to reach this agreement, which has precisely the most difficult stumbling block in the employment protection clauses . Yesterday's meeting started at around one o'clock in the afternoon and concluded at around 11 pm. At the moment, both the CEOE and Cepyme employers, as well as the UGT and CCOO unions are submitting the terms of the agreement to their decision-making bodies. The text has been prepared by the Ministry of Labor with everything agreed at the meetings.

The intention is to approve it in the Council of Ministers as soon as possible, which could happen today. The reason for the urgency is that most of those 3.3 million suspended jobs legally hang on the declaration of the state of alarm for the health crisis that has already been extended on several occasions, with less and less support in Congress.

In the current circumstances, the decline of the state of alarm would force the translation of these ERTEs by force majeure into ERTE for economic reasons, leaving companies and workers exposed to the economic situation, which has collapsed. In this situation, companies would have to resort to massive layoffs to survive.

Negotiations have been long because employers refused to accept a clause in the circumstances of the new period that would block their ability to terminate contracts. They have defended the automatic conversion of ERTEs by force majeure in those already established by legislation, pledging to recover employment as the economy rises. As an alternative, they have negotiated the extension of the current scheme, which establishes exemptions for the payment of contributions of suspended workers, until the economy recovers.

For their part, unions have lobbied for the clause that penalizes layoffs to remain active, declaring them inadmissible rather than targets for economic reasons. The difference between the two categories is substantial in terms of compensation since the first of the cases sets an amount of 20 days per year worked and the second 33.

The costs for the State for sustaining the labor market and avoiding mass layoffs are high. In April, the unemployment payrolls of the Ministry of Labor more than doubled to reach 5.2 million beneficiaries with a disbursement of 4.5 billion euros. In total, the Government estimates that the cost of ERTE throughout the crisis amounts to 18,000 million euros with a total of four million affected, as reported to the European Commission in its Stability Plan. Among unemployed people and those affected by ERTE, the volume of workers in this situation will reach 35% of the working population, according to the study service of the foundation of the savings banks, Funcas

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