December 27, 2023.- The Council of Ministers has approved, on the proposal of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, to extend the protection measures for working people with the extension of the SMI currently in force, and the extension of the ERTE of La Palma and the prohibition of dismissal, the latter, until June 30, 2024.
These measures are included in the Royal Decree-Law adopting measures to address the economic and social consequences of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as to alleviate the effects of the drought.
Interprofessional Minimum Wage
The regulation approved today includes the extension of the validity of Royal Decree 99/2023, of February 14, which establishes the Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI) for 2023, for the period necessary to guarantee the continuity of the work of the Social Dialogue Table in the search, one more year, for an agreed increase in the Interprofessional Minimum Wage.
In this way, the continuity of the text that would cease to produce effects on December 31 is guaranteed, and its validity is temporarily maintained from January 1. Legal certainty and continuity are therefore given to the function of the interprofessional minimum wage to serve as a soil or minimum wage guarantee for the
working people.
ERTE
The measures to deal with situations of social and economic vulnerability, and for the economic and social recovery of the island of La Palma, provided for in article 178 of Royal Decree-Law 5/2023 of 28 June, are also extended, in this case until 30 June 2024, with regard to the Temporary Employment Regulation Files (ERTE) linked to the situation of temporary force majeure in the case of companies and workers of the Canary Islands affected by the volcanic eruption registered in the Cumbre Vieja area.
Forbidden to fire
The companies benefiting from direct aid will not be able to justify objective redundancies based on the increase in energy costs until 30 June.
Companies benefiting from measures to reduce working hours or suspend regulated contracts for reasons related to the invasion of Ukraine and benefiting from public support will not be able to use these causes to make redundancies.