The objective of this decree is to alleviate the effects the current economic crisis is having in the labour market. Amongst other options, it provides additional measures to the temporary suspension of employees' work contracts. It has the clear aim of encouraging employers and trade unions to adopt these interim measures rather than more definitive or extreme measures such as collective dismissals.
Pursuant to this new regulation, the rights of employees who have been previously suspended from employment on a temporary basis for economic reasons, shall not be detrimentally affected for a maximum period of 120 days, in the event they are later dismissed. Moreover, it establishes that during the first 240 days of a suspension period, the employer's obligation to pay employees' Social Security contributions will be cut by 50%. In other words, during the first 240 days of the suspension period the employer must only pay the 50% of its contributions within the Social Security system.
