On Friday 26 June, Spain’s new Royal Decree-Law 24/2020 (RDL 24/2020) came into force, aimed at protecting jobs and supporting businesses in the transition towards full economic activity. RDL 24/2020 represents a scaling back of the emergency measures established in Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of 17 March and in the First Social Agreement on the Protection of Employment, which expired on 30 June 2020.
A number of the changes relate to the Temporary Employment Regulation Schemes (ERTE) that were introduced by the Spanish government to allow employers to suspend workers temporarily or reduce their working hours in response to the coronavirus pandemic, while allowing affected workers to claim unemployment benefits. If the changes are authorised by the relevant labour authority, employers are also eligible to claim exemptions from the payment of certain social security contributions.
