Until now, anyone self employed in Spain has not been entitled to receive unemployment benefit from the Government, but the bad economic climate has forced many businesses to close down.

As a result, a new law was passed on August 6 which comes into force on November 6 and anyone who is self-employed will be eligible to claim the same type of unemployment benefit as the unemployed if their business fails.
Basic conditions to be eligible are:
* The company must have closed for a reason other than retirement;
* there must be a valid economic reason why the company has failed and the company premises must be officially closed (you may not decide to stop your business);
* You must be up to date with your monthly social security payments;
* You need to have a valid “contingencias profesionales” (ie: fto be covered in case of accident).
Help granted will represent 70% of the “base reguladora” (more or less 70% x 850€; the calculation will be based on the final 12 months of trade), and the number of months that you can claim assistance depends on the number of months the business was active:
Months activity        Months granted
0-12                              0
12-17                            2
18-23                            3
24-29                            4
30-35                            5
36-42                            6
43-47                            8
48 and over                  12
Unfortunately, the government has limited its' assistance to 12 months maximum.
Should you start work as an employee and work for 12 months or more, the ordinary rules will apply. Jobless employees receive money based on the last six months of their salary; the maximum payment period is two years.

Stéphane MERCIER. Expertos de Tenerife S.L.

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