Domestic workers are entitled to receive unemployment benefits from 1 October 2022, a possibility that already existed for other employees but which until then was denied to them. However, only the period after that date was recognized as a contribution, a situation that the unions denounced as discriminatory, a condition recognized by European justice and several Spanish courts. To correct this situation, the Ministry of Labor announced on Wednesday that the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) has issued an instruction that registration periods before October 1, 2022 will also count as contributions.
As specified by the Ministry, the Sepe instruction paves the way for the calculation “in addition to the unemployment contribution periods from 1 October 2022” (already in force), “those included in the six years preceding the legal unemployment situation in which the applicant remained registered in the special regime for domestic workers without unemployment contributions”. The reference to six years is given because that is the minimum period that one must contribute to receive the contribution benefit for two years, the maximum allowed by law before moving to the assistance network.
These periods before October 2022 will also count towards the payment of benefits for those aged 52 and over. This is the most widespread welfare benefit, one of the few that does not end until retirement. The ministry clarifies that this new calculation “will not apply if the domestic worker simultaneously has other contributions from employment”.
The Labor Party claims this new policy, which was not clarified until court rulings ruled in favor of diverse domestic workers: “We continue to move towards real equality for this group with the rest of employed workers, leaving historical discrimination behind,” the ministry says.
Consultation with the State Attorney’s Office
The CC OO union announced this change in criteria a couple of hours before the ministry. He explained that SEPE had requested a report on the matter from the State Attorney General’s Office, given the complexity of recognizing as contributions a period in which such contributions were not actually paid. “Given the various existing jurisprudential rulings, the recognition of the right to unemployment benefits for domestic workers is established as an administrative criterion, taking into account the moment of registration in the special regime for domestic workers,” specifies the union in a statement.
CC OO celebrates the change, which it believes avoids “domestic workers having to continue to argue about this issue”. Reference is also made to the 2022 ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in which it concluded that the Spanish system was discriminatory as it did not recognize the right to unemployment for this group.
At the same time, CC OO calls for the expansion of domestic workers’ rights not to remain a SEPE instruction. “The basis of this decision should not only be an administrative criterion, but must be approved through the corresponding legal amendment. Therefore, we have turned to the Ministry of Labor to address this issue and ask it to convene the social partners to address the necessary changes,” concludes the union.
Professional risks
In Spain there are 341 thousand domestic workers under a special regime, which has been talked about a lot in recent days due to another new right. The employers of these professionals have been obliged since last Friday to assess the occupational risks of their homes. Although Trabajo launched a free tool to complete this procedure more than six months ago, there were problems because many people abandoned it until the last few days, just when the website had problems. According to the Ministry, Prevention10.es suffered a cyber attack. Despite everything, the Inspectorate has made it clear that it will not impose fines for the first few days of non-compliance, given these problems.
This activity is the one with the worst pay in the Spanish economy (1,138 gross monthly euros in 2024, compared to an average of 2,386), the highest percentage of foreign and dual citizenship workers (66%, compared to an average of 20% in the overall labor market, according to the EPA) and also the highest female participation (93%). While the number of people employed overall has grown by 9% since 2008, employment in their own country has fallen by 27%.
