The Council of Ministers approves a Royal Decree that lowers the day contribution requirements for cultural sector workers to access the subsidy
Intermittent in performing their work is the evil that affects workers in the cultural sector to a greater extent. Some employees who often have to combine months with a heavy workload, with others of inactivity and zero income. In order to try to alleviate this situation, the Council of Ministers gave the green light this Tuesday to a royal decree that lowers the requirements for days of contribution, so that artists and technicians can access unemployment benefits and, moreover, that allows the collection of pensions compatible pension with any artistic activity that generates a financial return.
Yolanda Díaz, Minister of Labor and Social Economy and Second Vice President of the Government, was responsible for detailing the content of this new regulation, “one of the great demands of the sector”, which changes the ordinary social security system and introduces a specific unemployment benefit which takes into account the intermittent nature of employees in the sector – artists, cameramen, make-up artists, musicians, technicians… – in their employment relationships. According to the minister, it will be the employees themselves who choose which premium model they prefer. For example, within 18 months they can opt for a 60-day contribution model for unemployment benefit of 120 days in total, or for an unemployment scheme that reduces the need for contribution days to 180 – usually 360 – in the long term. of six years. “In these cases, he pointed out, people are entitled to benefits which, depending on the contributions, can reach 80 or 100% of the IPREM”. The duration of the provision will be four months and fits in with the perception of intellectual property and image rights. Díaz also made it clear that the regime that governs the system today will also be enforced and the artists who prefer it will be able to benefit.
The new rule also extends the compatibility of 100% of the old-age pension with artistic activity because “the government understands that cultural people should continue to contribute to their country even if they are retired,” the minister added. Until now, this compatibility only reached activities that generated intellectual property rights; From the entry into force of this rule, it will also apply to activities such as a conference in connection with the presentation of a book and not only to the ownership rights of the work. And here too, not only artists or performers are considered, but also technicians or professionals who perform supporting activities. The beneficiaries of a non-contributory pension can also make it compatible with income from their artistic activity, provided they do not exceed the threshold of the Minimum Interprofessional Salary.
The Royal Decree also takes into account that a large proportion of employees in the sector are self-employed. For those with a low income (equal to or less than EUR 3,000 per year), the rule provides for a reduced contribution: in 2023, a premium income of EUR 526.14 is set for them, which equates to a monthly allowance of EUR 161 . The database will be updated in the coming years. In addition, given the irregularity of many of the activities of this group, the Regulation opens the possibility, at the request of the interested party, to set the deadline for payment of quotas quarterly instead of monthly.
Similarly, with the entry into force of the Royal Decree, two commissions were created: one for the study of occupational diseases in the cultural sector and another for the “deep” study of intermittency in employment relationships, with the aim of assessing the impact of these measures on the sector. Some of the measures that are the result of a “difficult and complex” negotiation, the minister noted due to the versatility of the sector: “It is not the same to address labor relations for the performing arts, as for the visual or musical arts.”
The measures approved this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers take an important step in the development of the status of artists, agreeing on the general requirements for access to ordinary unemployment benefits to “the reality of cultural workers, characterized by the interruption” .
Source: La Verdad
I am David Jackson, a highly experienced professional in the news industry. I have been working as an author at Today Times Live for over 10 years, and specialize in covering the entertainment section. My expertise lies in writing engaging stories that capture readers’ attention and deliver timely information about the latest developments.
