Los autonomous with employees could benefit from up to 732 euros per month in bonuses although they hire substitutes aged 30 or older to cover birth leave and leave due to risk during pregnancy or breastfeeding. The General Council of Social Graduates of Spain (CGGS) calls for eliminating the age requirement that currently prevents access to this aid when the person hired is over 29 years old.
The proposal would allow small businesses expand the search for candidates without giving up savings on contributions; although it still needs a regulatory change to be applied. The two bonuses, of 366 euros per month each, correspond to the contribution of the substitute person and that of the replaced person, and are linked to compliance with the requirements of the subsidized contract.
Joaquín Merchán, president of the CGGS, maintains that “encouraging youth employment is legitimate, but it cannot be done with an instrument that was created so that pregnancy would not make hiring more expensive.” The claim is supported by a report from the Technical Equality Commission of the Social Justice Foundation, which questions both the age restriction and the reduction in coverage compared to the previous system.
- Hiring a 30-year-old replacement leaves the business without both bonuses
- The reform replaced one hundred percent coverage with fixed amounts
- Replacing the self-employed person allows hiring without this age restriction
- Bonus contracts decreased by 68% between 2022 and 2024
Hiring a replacement who is 30 or older leaves the business without both bonuses
From September 1, 2023, these replacements of employees require hiring an unemployed person under 30 years of age to generate the right to bonuses. The required age corresponds to the person who comes in to cover the absence, whether male or female, and not to the employee who is at risk during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
For a self-employed employer, hiring a 29-year-old candidate or a 30-year-old candidate can represent a difference of up to 732 euros per month in discounted contributions. In three full months, the potential savings would reach 2,196 euros, provided that the requirements are met and the replacement contract and the benefit that justifies the absence coincide throughout that period.
The note projects that difference up to 8,784 euros per one full year of replacement, a figure that depends on whether the protected situation is maintained for twelve months. Bonuses reduce business contributions, so these amounts are not equivalent to a transfer to pay salary nor do they guarantee that any replacement will achieve these savings.
The reform replaced one hundred percent coverage with fixed amounts
Until August 2023, the system allowed rebate 100% of business fees corresponding to both people by hiring someone who is unemployed, without requiring a maximum age. Royal Decree Law 1/2023 modified this scheme and introduced fixed amounts and the requirement to hire people under 30 years of age in these replacements of employed workers.
“Before, Social Security covered one hundred percent of business contributions; now the aid is a fixed amount of 366 euros and disappears completely if the person hired turns 30,” summarizes Merchán. Therefore, in addition to removing the restriction, the CGGS proposes reinforcing the amounts to improve the economic coverage of these contracts.
“Encouraging youth employment is a legitimate objective,” says the president, who questions the use of a measure linked to maternity protection. “What does not make sense is to do it with an instrument that was created so that pregnancy would not become an extra cost for the company or a problem for the worker,” he adds.
Replacing the self-employed person allows hiring without this age restriction
The report identifies a relevant difference for those who are self-employed: age limit is not required when the contract serves to replace the self-employed person in protected situations. In this case, the rule contemplates a bonus of 366 euros per month for hiring an unemployed person, compatible with the self-contribution bonus provided for in the Self-Employment Statute.
The claim would allow employee replacements to be extended to that freedom to choose candidates without age determining access to the incentive. As an alternative to general suppression, the CGGS requests that, at least, the limit not be applied in risk cases during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
The document appreciates “consistent indications of possible indirect discrimination based on sex”, although it reserves the final legal assessment to the courts. “When the situation being protected can only affect women, an apparently neutral requirement can end up having an effect that is not neutral,” says Merchán when referring to risk situations during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Bonus contracts decreased by 68% between 2022 and 2024
The State Public Employment Service (SEPE) registered 119,857 contracts of the group analyzed in 2022, compared to 94,244 in 2023 and 38,176 in 2024. There are 81,681 fewer in two years, although the figures cover substitutions due to maternity, paternity, adoption, foster care and risk, and do not allow us to isolate what happened to pregnant or lactating workers.
The report warns of changes in the statistical classification and of the possible influence of economic or demographic factors, Therefore, it does not conclusively attribute the decline to the reform. “That is why we ask that it be reviewed and that data be published to be able to measure it,” says Merchán, whose organization demands statistics by sex, cause of substitution and type of incentive.
The CGGS also requests to correct the situation that may occur when anticipate the incorporation of the surrogate before birth. Article 15.3 of the Workers’ Statute allows starting the contract up to fifteen days before the absence, but the report warns of the lack of coverage for the business if the delivery is delayed beyond that period.
Source: www.autonomosyemprendedor.es
