More and more people decide to undertake on their own instead of having a boss. In other words, they decide to be autonomous and be their own bosses. Many will do well, others not so much, but something that must be taken into account is the moment when, due to bad situations, you have to unsubscribe because you may have a question: is there a freelance strike?
If you want to know if the self-employed are unemployed, what is the unemployment of the self-employed, or other questions related to this topic, below we are going to clarify all the doubts that may have been raised.
But, does a freelancer have unemployment?
If we were to answer you directly, yes or no, unfortunately we would have to say no. The self-employed are not entitled to unemployment benefit as is the case with an employed person. But what they do have is the call «Cessation of activity», which is better known as «unemployment of the self-employed», although in reality that concept does not encompass everything that this figure is.
The cessation of activity, or unemployment of the self-employed, is actually a benefit that is granted for losing the job, in this case the business as a self-employed person. Now, getting it is not as easy as a worker's unemployment can be. You need to meet a number of requirements.
The requirements to request the unemployment of the self-employed
To begin with, the unemployment of the self-employed, or cessation of activity, requires to be up to date in the self-employed quota. That is You must have paid your fee month by month and owe nothing to the Treasury. If this is not the case, this already invalidates you to request it and you must first catch up to be able to opt for it. You must also remain affiliated and registered with the RETA, that is, the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers, at least until the moment you request the cessation of activity.
Another requirement that they will request is that You have been at least one year, 12 months, as an active self-employed person.
All this will make you eligible to request the benefit, but it does not mean that they will grant it to you yes or yes. And it is that the cessation of activity has to be justified; You cannot ask for it as something "that has occurred to you", but it must be given by some justified or involuntary cause that has made you have no alternative.
How to request the cessation of activity
If you have reached this situation, then it is possible that you are already clear that you cannot continue as a freelancer. And that implies that you must initiate the procedures. These are:
- Fill in the form Request for Economic Benefit for Cessation of Activity of Self-Employed Workers.
- Attach the requested documentation.
- Present the documentation in the Mutual that corresponds to you. This must be done within 30 days from the date of cessation of activity.
How to justify the cessation of activity and the request for unemployment of the self-employed
As we have mentioned before, complying with the requirements only augurs that they will take your request into account, but not that they will accept it. And is that you have to justify why you request the cessation of activity of that business. And for this, you must demonstrate the following (it does not have to be everything, but some cause):
- That expenses are higher than income. In this case, to be considered, expenses must exceed income by a minimum of 10%.
- That there are pending executions for more than 30% of your income in the last year.
- Have a judicial declaration that prevents you from continuing with your activity.
- That it is a cause of force majeure, although in this case you must justify what that cause is: loss of license, misfortune, gender violence ...
How much and for how long the cessation of activity is charged
Self-employed unemployment, as with the unemployment benefit for workers, is not collected permanently. It has a limited duration. And an amount.
To begin with If they accept the cessation of activity, the right to unemployment received is 70% of what you have contributed in the last year. For example, if you have contributed 1300 euros, you will have a benefit of 910 euros per month.
Of course, once a cap is reached, even if you have quoted for more money, you will not have the right to receive more money.
And how long can I receive this benefit? In this case it will depend on how long you have been a freelancer. If you have only been between 12 and 17 months, you have 4 months. As you increase, the months are greater, such that:
- From 12 to 17 months, 4 months of benefit.
- From 18 to 23 months, 6 months.
- From 24 to 29 months, 8 months.
- From 30 to 35 months, 10 months.
- From 36 to 42 months, 12 months.
- From 43 to 47 months, 16 months.
- If you have been self-employed for more than 47 months (almost 4 years), then you will have 24 months of benefit.
What happens if I am denied the cessation of activity and I do not have unemployment
Many freelancers can find themselves with the unpleasant news that, once they have requested the cessation of activity, it has been denied. Therefore, that implies that they cannot obtain the benefit for cessation of activity. Or what is the same, they will not have unemployment of the independent one.
In the case of employed workers, they can apply for an unemployment benefit, but do the self-employed have the same?
Unfortunately not. Social Security does not offer solutions to the self-employed who become "unemployed" beyond the benefit for cessation of activity. In fact, there is no unemployment benefit of any kind for the self-employed. For this reason, what is usually done is that these self-employed sign up as unemployed in the employment offices and, out there, try to obtain some help or subsidy that may allow them to receive something while they find a job. For example, we are talking about Active Insertion Income, which is granted to unemployed people over 45 years of age who cannot access an unemployment benefit or subsidy.