The Canary Islands Government has said they are going to give a ‘bonus’ payment to anyone that earns less than the Minimum Interprofessional Salary (SMI), which is calculated at 950 euros per month on a full time contract of 40 hours a week.
The criteria that will determine which people will be eligible to receive this supplement, which will be at least 100 euros are not yet confirmed, but the Minister of Economy and Employment for the Canary Islands, Elena Mánez, said yesterday that "potential beneficiaries" will be those who earn means less than the SMI.
The Government is allocating 30 million euros from the funds of the React Europe plan, and it is estimated that there are 30,000 people in ERTEs out of the 99,000 who earn below the SMI, of which SEPE will give the exact data.
Mánez highlighted the need for this money to complement the benefits of some workers who have seen their salary cut by more than 30% and who, in some cases, are turning to social organizations for help due to the impossibility of making ends meet.
"It is not social assistance," she wanted to make clear, who repeated this point on several occasions. “This is a complement for workers in ERTE, because since their wages have fallen they are in a vulnerable situation. They do not reach the Minimum Interprofessional Salary" said Máñez, who stressed that the Government's objective is "to accompany them in transit "until they can return to work.
It will now be down to SEPE to refine the data and provide the Government with the exact information to begin processing this payment. As Navarro and González indicated yesterday, the objective of the unions and the Government is that the processing is as fast as possible so that it can be charged immediately and cover the workers "who are having a really tough time."
The complement to the ERTE is a measure that various autonomous communities have implemented since the pandemic broke out and that seeks to compensate for the loss of income suffered by workers affected by a temporary employment record. "Our priority is to reach those who need it most," said Máñez yesterday, who pointed out that the economic sector to which ERTE workers belong will not be one of the criteria that will be taken into account to select the beneficiaries.
