When a job opportunity arises for an unemployed person receiving unemployment benefits or other unemployment benefits, he or she usually stops thinking about what to do. The most interesting option a priori would be to accept the offer, but what if the new job ends in dismissal? What to do if the contract ends without renewal? Or if you fail your probation? In all three cases, the worker may be forced to return to unemployment, but without the right to any benefits, so the step forward will not compensate him, especially if the subsidy he receives is more or less high.

With this “temptation” to remain outside the labor market, the government is trying to fight the inevitable unemployment benefits reform. Last week, Vice President and Labor Secretary Yolanda Diaz pledged during her inauguration that one of this Legislature’s first actions would be to reform unemployment benefits. And this Monday, the Minister of Economy, Gonzalo García Andrés, insisted at an informative breakfast that unemployment benefits will be changed with the intention of forcing the worker to reintegrate into the labor market.

What is clear at this point is that The executive branch promised Brussels reform that should have been approved in 2022, and that’s why it’s a year later. The promise included major changes to unemployment benefits, that is, those aimed at workers who have exhausted their insurance contributions – unemployment – but are still unemployed, as well as people with more than six months of contributions and less than twelve months – preventing them from accessing typical unemployment benefits.

“The purpose of the measure is to (i) expand unemployment protection, improve coverage by extending the duration of subsidies, and address gaps in insufficient protection in current programs; (ii) simplifying the operation of the system, reducing the number of digits. provide greater clarity, legal certainty and ease of administration; (iii) link this protection to the obligation to monitor and implement the individual employment pathway; (iv) allow this benefit to serve as a bridge to social protection when the beneficiary has not returned to the labor market and is in a vulnerable situation,” says the Labor Ministry’s Recovery Plan, which details to Brussels the reforms promised in exchange for receiving the funds. Next generation.

This last part, the one that affects the fact that the new benefit will entail stricter control by public employment services, is the most questionable because The reform does not involve any funding responsible for European funds. At the same time, this limits possible improvements in active employment policies, such as strengthening the focus on employment or increasing the commitment of the unemployed to find work.

There are currently several subsidies of this type available. One of them is active income from investments (RAI) And extraordinary unemployment benefit (THIRST). Both will be part of the new benefit, which will be in addition to the insurance benefit and which will also be partly dependent on previous contributions, as specified in Pillar 23 of the Recovery Plan (Reform No. 10). The same document indicates an amount of 80% of the IPREM, which is currently equivalent to approximately 480 euros.

The goal of the reform is to change the subsidy system to make it more employment-oriented. Entitlements or amounts will not change, but the possibility is being considered that the subsidy will initially be higher and then reduced, as is the case in other European countries and as recommended by the OECD in its latest report. If the changes are successful, the government could even save on unemployment benefits, as well as improve employment rates and increase tax revenues.

It is worth remembering that some people who receive such small subsidies survive only thanks to flooded economy, so that would be another side effect. On the other hand, the reform could provide for the possibility of making the subsidy compatible with employment depending on the income received.

Different priorities

It’s too early to say how the reforms will be discussed and what measures they will include, but in recent days the ministries of labor and economy have approached it very differently. The Vice President spoke about “improve subsidy”: “We’ve reversed the cuts to state unemployment benefits and now it’s time to move on to the level of assistance. We’re going to do this. We’re going to start by protecting those who need it most,” he said upon taking office. his portfolio.

However Secretary of State for Economics, Speaking on the same topic, he focused on the group members going to work: “It is very important that [la reforma de los subsidios por desempleo] the focus is on strengthening the activity agreement that all unemployed people enter into with public employment services, so that the support that the administration gives them in their training gives them an individual route and facilitates their inclusion in the labor market, which has a reciprocal nature in the search for active work. and in accepting appropriate job offers,” he said.

“The entire unemployment benefit system should be focused on reintegration into the labor market.”

Gonzalo Garcia Andres

In his opinion, this is the “missing element” for the movement towards full employment. “Reform of the passive policy is fundamental,” he added, insisting on the need to “orient the entire system of unemployment benefits towards the reintegration of workers into the labor market.” On the other hand, he linked the shortage of certain profiles that some sectors are experiencing with the reform, since it “allows all people receiving subsidies to become active again in the labor market.” “Let all these people take advantage of the opportunities we have now.”

How the reform will ultimately develop will only be known when the negotiating table is convened. unions They have no news. According to the Workers’ Commissions, before the dissolution of the Cortes due to the call for elections, the parties met to discuss this reform, but after the formation of the new government they were no longer brought together at the negotiating table. What they predict is that the negotiations are sure to have their complications, so they believe reform will be difficult to implement in just a few weeks of reaching an agreement, as the economy minister predicted yesterday.