The Council of Ministers will approve this Tuesday the declaration of an area seriously affected by a civil protection emergency for the localities of the Valencian Community, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia, Catalonia and Aragon hardest hit by DANA, as well as an emergency decree-law in which they are compiled with economic, labor and fiscal assistance for those affected. This was confirmed yesterday during a press conference by the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, after meeting in Congress with the parliamentary groups to report on the situation of DANA.
The first measure will be to give the green light to what was previously called disaster zone declaration channel state aid intended to rebuild the areas affected by DANA and provide an “immediate response to the tragedy”, he assured. And, at the same time, the emergency decree-law will be approved which will include “immediate response measures to this tragedy”, even if the measures have not yet been finalized.
Bolaños transmitted initiatives to the different parliamentary groups he met – Vox disdained the call – and, according to him, “everyone” was “predisposed” to approve said decree, including the PP.
According to government sources, an interministerial commission will also be created to coordinate the work of all ministries in constant collaboration with the Valencian Government. The Treasury will authorize the Valencian Generalitat to carry out “all the emergency expenditure it needs without any limit of resources”, also allowing the Community not to reach deficit targets due to the DANA disaster.
The Generalitat Valenciana, chaired by Carlos Mazón, officially requested from the central government a first package of aid amounting to 31.402 million euros for people affected by DANA and emergency reconstruction from the area of the province of Valencia hard hit by the tragedy. A number that This is practically the consolidated budget of the Valencian Government for this year: 31.521 million.
The Executive is in communication with the European Commission and procedures have begun to request assistance from the European Solidarity Fund – the first payment of which will amount to only 50 million – and recourse to other Community support resources from the European Union. As expected, the set of economic measures will include actions in tax matters, although the Treasury specifies that other decisions could be approved later, because the important thing now is to respond to the emergencies of the people concerned.
For its part, the Ministry of Labor will present Tuesday to the Council of Ministers a series of measures aimed at protecting workers affected by DANA, including the ban on dismissal and the offer of paid leave in certain situations, as well as priority to use of teleworking.
The minister of the sector, Yolanda Díaz, indicated that all the regulations of this “labor shield” that will be approved tomorrow in the Council of Ministers will have legal effects from the day of the disaster, Tuesday, October 29. In addition, he indicated that the measures will not be limited to the municipalities concerned, because “productive activities do not depend on postal code or geographical limitations.”
From Labor they have advised against traveling and emphasized that teleworking will be the preferred form of work and, if this is not possible, they have exempted workers from going to work, considering justified absences as those of people who are found in the following situations:
– When the movement may pose a danger to the safety and health of workers or interfere with rescue and recovery work in affected areas.
– When workers have to care for missing loved ones or deal with their death.
– When, following the loss of their housing or their property, they cannot go to their place of work.
– When, following the closure of schools, residences or public services in general, they must face family care needs.
The minister indicated that in these cases all workers can be absent and take paid leave, while the ministry stressed that in the event that the company imposes any type of negative consequence for not going to work , this would be considered null.
Yolanda Díaz emphasized that the ERTEs provided for by the labor reform are accessible to companies, without prior contribution obligation. “They will be protected, they will not be afraid,” he declared, specifying that they will not consume unemployment.
In addition, Díaz indicated that the “Plan Me Cuida” developed during the Covid-19 pandemic will be recovered, with reductions in working hours for care, which envisages a reduction of up to 100% of the working day for reconcile work. “This plan considers all the possibilities of adaptation of the working day (…). The predominance of its definition belongs to the worker”, emphasized Díaz.
For entrepreneurs, Díaz indicated that they will benefit from the same mechanism of protection of social contributions that they had during the pandemic and that in addition, a series of measures will be incorporated regarding deadlines for social contributions, regulations. or quotas, like the mechanism developed during Covid-19.
Self-employed people applying for benefits will not need the minimum contribution
In terms of Social Security, the ministry announced that self-employed workers affected by DANA will be able to request compensation for cessation of activity due to force majeure from their mutual insurance company. without needing to have the minimum contribution required to access it. The package of economic measures will include precisely this particular situation of cessation of activity in which no waiting period is required, which is normally 12 months of contributions.
The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration reports on the protective measures available for workers, businesses and citizens, as well as the improvements that must be approved to deal with the DANA disaster. This particular situation also provides that the days of services consumed are not calculated for future situations, which is called a zero counter. In addition, this period will be counted as contributions. The amount of the benefit reaches 70% of the regulatory base.
As they informed the ministry, mutual societies will also strengthen the dissemination of procedures for requesting cessation of activity, with the aim of transmitting this information to the self-employed workers concerned in the area. Social Security recalls that, since the labor reform, it is possible to protect workers and the productive fabric in crisis and emergency situations like DANA through an ERTE for force majeure, the company being able to temporarily suspend the relationship of work or reduce the working day.
This measure benefits from a 100% exemption from social security contributions for businesses and workers and any worker can claim it without using unemployment benefits. She can contact the SEPE or by calling 060.
Concerning the Minimum Vital Income (IMV), Social Security reminds that citizens can obtain information by calling 900 20 22 22. In addition, this Monday the short telephone number 020 was launched, with 40% of staff in more.
On the Economy side, they are already predicting that the first payments from insurers to those affected by DANA will arrive at the end of this week. In just five days, 46,000 compensation claims were registered and more than 400 experts were deployed to the affected area.
So far, the Insurance Compensation Consortium of the Ministry of Economy is already processing 18,000 claims for compensation from people affected by DANA, which represents almost 40% of claims.
