In the troubled working times we live in, everyone should know what a Company Certificate (or, “Certificado de Empresa” in Spanish) is. Mostly because if things go wrong you will not be able to access your ERTE benefits without said document.
For this reason, the request for the Company Certificate has become an essential procedure in the face of layoffs and workforce reductions. It has become a staple in every employee’s vocabulary.
What is the Company Certificate and how useful is it in the job market? Below we explain to you:
- All the keys to obtaining it
- Why it is necessary to request it to collect the unemployment benefit
- How to access it online
- The consequences that the company suffers when it refuses to issue it
- The form that must be completed to be valid before the official State bodies
Here you can find the Official Form of the Company Certificate
What is the Company Certificate?
This labor document is responsible for proving a legal situation of unemployment and the reasons that justify the absence of work. Knowing why a person is not working is an essential requirement to be eligible for unemployment benefits in Spain and Europe. For this reason, this certificate clearly states the reasons why an employment relationship is terminated.
These reasons will determine if the former worker has the right to unemployment (Paro). Therefore, the Certificado de Empresa becomes a fundamental tool in the highly changing labor market that we live in today.
This unemployment benefit can only be acquired if the worker has left his job due to dismissal, due to:
- Not having passed the trial period required by the company
- Having suffered the consequences of an ERE
- The termination of a temporary contract, when there is no renewal by the company.
What happens in case of voluntary withdrawal?
In no case will the worker be entitled to unemployment due to voluntary leave, this means that if they resign and it is their decision without the company wanting it or encouraging it, this situation is specified in the Company Certificate, which must also include the contributions of the last 180 days of employment so that the amount to which the worker is entitled to can be calculated.
Every company has the obligation to issue this certificate to its own employees with whom it breaks its employment relationship. And they must do so within a maximum period of 10 calendar days from the cessation of the activity, in addition to sending it to Social Security and the Public State Employment Service (SEPE).
This step is essential so that they can begin to process their unemployment benefits and that the employee can get them. In turn, the former worker has 15 days to present it at the corresponding Employment Office in case they provide it by hand because if it is delayed, their unemployment process will be postponed.
How to obtain the Company Certificate?
To obtain this document online, you must enter the SEPE Electronic Office by clicking on the image:
Obtaining this document from the employing company should be a simple task and, today, practically automatic except in cases of companies that are not registered with the General Treasury of Social Security.
All you have to do is request it from the Human Resources department, the manager responsible for the staff, or the legal department of the company in question, who will be in charge of issuing and delivering it once the service to the company has ended.
This is usually delivered together with the rest of the legal documentation, such as final payments, settlement, compensation if applicable, etc. It is delivered twice: to the employee by hand once their employment relationship has ended and to the SEPE electronically via the Internet.
Another option, increasingly practiced due to its immediacy and convenience, is to consult online the Company Certificate, on the website of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE). There you can request your Company Certificate online, and you will only need an Electronic DNI, a Digital Certificate, or be registered in the national Cl@ve System.
Fines of up to 6,500 euros
In the event that the Company Certificate is not provided by the company, any individual can request it at the SEPE within 15 days after the dismissal with the DNI and a declaration of lack of documentation.
Thus, the State Public Employment Service itself will be in charge of looking for it among its records and, in case of absence, requesting it directly from the responsible company under penalty of a financial fine in case they refuse to deliver it.
What happens if when consulting the Company Certificate it is discovered that it has not been issued? It is not usual, but it may happen that some companies do it as a measure of pressure on the worker.
In this case, it is important that the individual follows the steps mentioned above to request the certificate at the SEPE and that the institution is in charge of processing it with the company. Thus, the INEM will demand that the company comply with its obligations and, if this continues, they may be sanctioned with fines of between 600 and 6,500 euros.
Data in the Company Certificate
Regarding the model of the Company Certificate, it cannot be done freely. There is a standard template provided by the State to which, with few exceptions, all issuing companies must adhere. It is always mandatory to include the tax data of the company and the worker, as well as the nature of the contract, the reasons for the dismissal, and the last contributions of the employee, which will determine the amount of money that will be received as unemployment benefits.
In any case and as a general rule, today it is no longer necessary to be aware of these bureaucratic measures because the vast majority of companies that carry out their economic activity in the Spanish territory are connected electronically with the General Treasury of Social Security through its RED system. This allows them to cross automated data with the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) and know the worker’s contributions accurately, efficiently, and in real-time.
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