Workers need to be active for several years to qualify for a retirement pension. And one of the tools that helps the elderly to gradually withdraw from their employment relationship is the so-called relief contract. This figure, although it is well known, is not always applied. But it can help to avoid a drastic change in a person's life that can bring negative consequences.
If you want to know more about the relief contract, such as the characteristics it has, the requirements and when it ends, then keep reading what we have prepared for you.
What is the relief contract
The relief contract is a figure that regulates the employment relationship, no longer of two entities (worker and company), but of three, two workers and a company. It is a document that allows a worker to be replaced by another person due to the forthcoming retirement of the first, in such a way that he must transmit all his knowledge to the new person and teach him what work is like before fully retiring.
For example, imagine you have a worker who has reached 65 years of age. He has little left to retire and the company decides that instead of working the entire working day, it is going to do less in exchange for having another worker who will be in charge of filling in the hours that he is not going to work. In return, he must teach that new person how to handle the job. In other words, you become the other person's "teacher."
Now, you must bear in mind that, although the relief contract involves three figures, it does not mean that there is only one contract. In reality there will be the old worker and the new worker.
What about the relieved worker
The worker relieved is the person who has been with the company for a long time and who accepts that it will partially replace him / her, thus availing itself of partial retirement. The contract you have with the company is modified in such a way that it becomes a part-time contract, and it must be done in writing and in the official model so that the change is legal and you can also present it in order to be given the partial retirement.
This will then go on to work certain hours of the working day, the rest of the hours being replaced by the person who replaces him, that is, the worker linked to another contract for the number of hours that the relieved person is not going to work.
The figure of the reliever
In the case of the reliever, that is, the worker who replaces the former employee, he must comply with the hours established in his contract and also learn from the reliever all the knowledge he must have, both about the company and the job he is going to. to play. The goal is that This person learns everything in such a way that, when the relieved person decides to access full retirement, the other person can already dominate the job 100% to carry out, from that moment, a full working day.
Requirements to sign a relief contract
Considering all the above, when a company finds it necessary to sign a relief contract, it needs to meet a series of requirements for it to be considered "legal". And what are those? Well the following:
- That the relief worker is registered with the INEM. It is also allowed that this worker can be someone who is already related to the company, but has a fixed-term contract. For example, a person who works in the company but for a few specific months.
- That the contract is drawn up in the official model and is in writing. In this case, a verbal contract is not valid. This official model can be downloaded on the SEPE official website and there are two types to choose from: on the one hand, the indefinite relief contract; on the other, the temporary relief contract.
- That the workday of the reliever worker is equivalent to the person he is replacing. That is, if the other person has an 8-hour workday, and four hours no longer go to work, the reliever will supply those 4 hours, but will not do more.
- The relieved worker, so that this type of contract can be accessed, you need to have been in the company for at least 6 years which must be prior to partial retirement.
- In addition, the reduction is not determined by the contract, but it can be between 25 and 67% of the working working day. There can only be an 80% reduction if as a relief worker you are hired full-time (with the indefinite-term contract).
- That the relieved worker has the "official" age to partially retire. And it is that you cannot retire whenever you want, but you must be at least 61 years and 10 months as long as you have been listed for 35 years or more. If you are only 33, then you won't be able to partially retire until age 62 and 8 months.
Termination of the relief contract
The relief contract is not infinite. In fact, as established by the Workers' Statute, It has an undetermined date, but which is caused by the total retirement of the worker. This does not have to occur at the legal retirement age. Rather, the worker may decide to continue with his employment relationship for a longer time in such a way that the relief contract is extended annually.
What happens when this occurs? Actually, the relief contract does not oblige the company to continue with the worker; In other words, it does not mean that this contract must be transformed into an indefinite one. The company at that time has several options:
- That the relief worker happens to have an indefinite contract. It is normal since he has been training for that very thing.
- That the relief worker ends his employment relationship with the company. Therefore, you will be paid the corresponding salary as well as compensation. Of course, since 2013, if the relief contract that was made is indefinite and full-time, the company is obliged to maintain the employment relationship for two years. After that time, you can end the relationship.
- Hire a new worker. With the consequent learning of the job since you will not have anyone to teach you.