The labour reform It is one of the great concerns of self-employed workers. For this reason, the online advice platform for the self-employed, Declaring, explains in a new installment of its Legal Observatory how the recent labor reform affects self-employed workers who have contracted workers in their charge.
“The beginning of the year 2022 at the legal level is marked by the entry into force, on December 28, of the labor reform promoted by the Government. A rule whose application mainly affects companies, but to which those self-employed workers who have contracted workers must also pay attention, who have until next March to adapt to the new regulations “Marta Zaragoza recalls.
In this sense, the changes introduced in the new law that may most affect self-employed workers are the following:
Modifications in the types of contract
One of the most outstanding aspects of the new legislative text is the entry into force of new types of contract or the modification in the conditions of the already existing ones. These are the contracts included in the new labor reform and that must be applied by all self-employed workers who have dependents.
Contract for circumstances of production
It is a type of contract that ends the temporary contract and that it serves so that the self-employed and companies can expand their workforce due to an unforeseen increase in activity, either due to seasonal factors or for any other market reason. Likewise, this type of contract is the one that must be formalized to replace employees who are on vacation. It is important to note that the new reform has toughened the penalties for fraudulent temporary hiring.
training contracts
The new labor standard includes two types of training contracts. On the one hand, the so-called “alternating training contract”, whose use is planned so that workers can reconcile work activity with any training process. The other type of training contract is the one designed to offer professional internships. In this case, the maximum duration of the contractual relationship will be one year and the companies are obliged to inform these workers if there are vacant positions at the end of the relationship.
Discontinuous fixed contracts
With the aim of minimizing temporary contracts, the Government has expanded the circumstances for discontinuous fixed contracts to be formalized, in such a way that this will be the contractual modality that must be applied by the self-employed who hire employees dedicated to seasonal work or linked to seasonal activities. .
Employment Flexibility and Stabilization Network
The text of the new labor reform includes another series of outstanding novelties. Among them, the modification of the ERTE regulation, which has arisen as a result of the recent regulations by Covid-19, and which has served to create the Employment Flexibility and Stabilization Network Mechanism.
This is a new type of ERTE motivated by cyclical or sectoral circumstances. Thus, in the first case, it will be possible to activate measures with a maximum duration of one year and that are motivated by a general macroeconomic situation that advises them. In the sectoral case, it will be allowed to activate the ERTE due to the unfavorable situation of a certain sector and for a maximum of one year, with two extensions of six months each.
Collective agreements and subcontracting
The 2021 labor reform maintains the priority in the application of the business agreement regarding sectoral agreements, contrary to what the business and self-employed associations claimed. In this way, during the period in which a new agreement is negotiated, it is understood that the conditions of the previous one are extended indefinitely, both in terms of rights and obligations.
For their part, the changes that affect the subcontracting of services focus on the fact that the applicable collective agreement for contractors and subcontractors will be that of the sector of the activity carried out in the contract or subcontractor, regardless of its corporate purpose or form. legal. The company agreement may only be applied by the contractor or subcontractor if it determines better salary conditions than the sectoral agreement.
