From today, the government is expanding the set of measures in response to DANA with a new royal decree-law which includes 110 new measures and is valued at 3.765 million euros. The Council of Ministers has given the green light to a series of authorizations and justifications for extraordinary and paid absences from work derived from the impact of DANA. The company will pay 100% for these justified authorizations under the pretext that the employer can now resort to the Temporary Work Regulation File (ERTE) due to force majeure, which exempts it from the payment of social security contributions in the event of having to stop its work. activity, they say from the Ministry of Labor to “elEconomista.es”.
These absences will be justified in cases where the worker risks his health to go to work, by devoting himself to rescue or cleaning work in the municipalities, if he has lost his housing and his property, or if he cannot go to work. or work remotely, among other hypotheses that this media had already mentioned. In exchange, the company must cover the entire salary. The alternative offered by the Labor Party are the ERTEs which already house more than 9,000 people and more than 400 businesses affected by the disaster who have requested this assistance.
When is it justified to be absent from work if the company continues its activity and the employee is not in the ERTE? These are situations related to safety, but also to cleaning or rescue tasks. The ministry stressed last week that Any type of negative consequence imposed by the company on the worker, in the most extreme case dismissal, will be considered void.
- If moving puts your safety at risk or interferes with rescue and recovery efforts.
- If you have to care for missing loved ones or deal with the death of a family member.
- If you have lost your home or belongings and cannot get to your workplace.
- If you have to care for members of your family due to the closure of schools, residences or public services in general.
- If the worker does not have a connection to work remotely, he or she cannot come to work in person either.
Extension of all aid
Concretely, Moncloa extends all aid in the event of damage to housing to owners who do not live there but who have rented them. At this point, it extends compensation for lost property to tenants and non-essential property. In addition, The Executive will advance 50% to all citizens who request this aid so that they do not have to wait for their file to be processed.
Furthermore, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced that, to accelerate the collection and processing of the entire aid network, he will increase the staff of government sub-delegations, service points in all offices post office and will open a network of temporary offices. . in the municipalities concerned. In addition, increases by 30% the child assistance supplement received by up to 10,000 families.
On the other hand, and in terms of housing. The mortgage code of good practice – approved in 2022 after an agreement with the bank – is extended so that Affected households can freeze their mortgages for an additional 12 months after the first 12 months. provided for in the previous royal decree. For example, an average home loan of 120,000 euros, with a monthly payment of 600 euros; You will pay zero euros in the coming months, and 300 euros for nine additional months, in addition, once this period has passed, if there is a risk of vulnerabilitythe beneficiary will only pay 300 euros for an additional 12 months.
The package lays the foundation stone for the reconstruction of affected homes and offers housing solutions to those who saw how their homes were damaged. Moncloa will mobilize all land available by the State Land Entity (SEPES) accelerate the construction of affordable housing in all affected areas and municipalities. Furthermore, in the short term, will offer properties owned by Sareb, to rehouse all those who lost their homes.
The royal decree allows 150 state-owned housing units located in or near damaged areas to be made available free of charge and immediately to affected people. In addition, 25 million euros will be available to compare accommodation and expand this pool for those affected.
Agricultural relief plan
On the other hand, the Executive focuses on aid to the agricultural sector. “We haven’t seen many images of farms or crops in ruins, but that’s because farmers were present in the affected areas and helping,” insisted Sánchez, who announced a new direct help line 200 million euros for farms which have suffered damage which prevents them from starting the next season or which have suffered losses greater than 40%.
In addition, Moncloa will award 500 million to finance an action plan against the mud which is found in many streets and infrastructures in the affected areas. Concretely, the elimination of all this sludge will be promoted, the water networks will be repaired, the sewer or purification systems will be cleaned in an attempt to return to normality.
The plan extends aid to agricultural operations, the recovery of property and constitutes the first step in the use of resources and the social housing stock.
In addition to this area, there is other aid, such as a sum of 45 million euros for the heritage restoration of the lagoon, and another 2 million in direct aid for cultural activities: cinemas, bookstores, etc.
The Executive continues to work on approving specific aid for specific groups particularly punished by DANA. For vehicles, for broken down cars and dealers who have lost all their stock. And for the countryside, where some estimates show 20,000 hectares affected and agricultural insurance coverage worth 150 million euros.
More work measures
The government is prioritizing remote work as the preferred form of organization and if this is not possible, workers will be exempted from going to their workplace, in accordance with the legal strengthening of permits and justified absences from work . Strengthen and timely employment The maximum duration of two years for temporary contracts will be removed.
People covered by ERTE will receive 70% of the regulatory base for the entire duration of the service and their processing will be accelerated. ERTEs are also extended to companies without tax domicile in “zero zone” which have seen their activity affected.
Recovers the “Mecuida” plan, implemented during the pandemic to relax working hours, which will facilitate the adaptation or reduction of the working day in areas affected by DANA.
The aforementioned royal decree prohibits the dismissal of workers from companies that receive direct aid provided for under DANA. Any dismissal made will be null and void.
The package includes an employment plan of 50 million euros for the hiring of unemployed people which will reach all Autonomous Communities with municipalities affected by DANA to undertake the reconstruction of the affected territories.
THE temporary disability benefit (IT) will be assimilated to work stoppage due to a work accident, eliminate minimum contribution requirements to access the benefit. Assimilation of the provision of IT to work accidents.
Domestic workers can also benefit from protective measures with coverage equivalent to that of other workers.
