The contributory unemployment benefit (commonly known as “Paro” in Spain) provides economic assistance to those employees who have involuntarily lost their job and have 360 or more days of unused unemployment contributions.
What is the Contributory Unemployment Benefit?
It is an unemployment benefit that is called “contributory” because the amount to be collected and the time during which it will be collected depend on the unemployment contributions that the worker has accumulated. The more contribution, the more benefit is received by the employee.
This contributory unemployment benefit should not be confused with non-contributory unemployment benefits (also called unemployment subsidies), which are an aid since they are intended for those who lack income. The State Public Employment Service (SEPE) is the one that pays both the contributory unemployment benefit and the non-contributory unemployment benefit.
Requirements to apply for the Contributory Unemployment Benefit
- To have contributed for unemployment at least for 360 days in the 6 years prior to becoming unemployed and that these contributions have not been used to previously request another benefit or subsidy. If the person is unemployed and does not get to have these contributions, they would have to request a subsidy or extraordinary aid.
- Be in a legal unemployment situation. It means “to be in Paro”. The law only allows this unemployment situation (Paro) to be requested in very specific situations. You must have lost a job for reasons beyond your control, such as a dismissal (individual or collective, appropriate or unfair), the end of a temporary contract or probationary period, the suspension, reduction, or termination of an ERE (Employment Regulation File), end of the contract due to the death, retirement or incapacity of the employer, due to the total permanent incapacity of the worker for their usual profession, etc. A voluntary discharge, for example, will not allow you to apply for unemployment benefits afterward.
- To be registered (or in a situation similar to that of affiliation) in a scheme that contemplates unemployment benefits, usually the General Social Security System. There are special cases in which there is no right to unemployment benefits, such as household employees, or self-employed workers who have not voluntarily opted for the contribution due to cessation of activity.
- To be registered as a job seeker (and as being unemployed) and sign the activity commitment.
- Not to be of retirement age or self-employed, save for the exceptions provided for in the law.
How much can I collect with the Contributory Unemployment Benefit?
What is collected with the Contributory Unemployment Benefit is a percentage of the employee’s regulatory base, which is the first notion to be calculated.
I) Calculation of the regulatory base
The regulatory base is the average of the bases of work accidents and occupational diseases (excluding overtime pay) corresponding to the last 180 days paid prior to the legal unemployment situation or at the time when the obligation to contribute ceased. If we put this in a simpler way it would be understood that the daily average of the employee’s contribution bases during the last six months of contributions is what is calculated.
II) Calculation of the percentage
Once the regulatory base of the employee is known, for example, €30/day, the unemployment benefit pays a percentage of that regulatory base.
During the first six months, the daily amount to be received will be 70% of the employee’s regulatory base.
From the seventh month (day 181), this benefit is reduced and only 50% of the base is received.
By law, the maximum and minimum amounts that can be collected with the contributory benefit are established every year. For 2019 the minimum amount of the contributory benefit without children was €501.98 and with one or more children, €671.40. The maximum amount without children is €1,098.09, with one child €1,254.96, and with two or more €1,411.83. These maximum and minimum amounts are reduced proportionally when there are part-time contracts.
In the case of unemployment due to the loss of a part-time contract job, the minimum or maximum amount is calculated based on the number of hours worked during the period of the last 180 days of contributions.
The State Public Employment Service has an online automatic calculation program of the benefit so that by entering your data you can make a simulation of what you will receive due to this benefit. It is available at this link.
For how long can the Contributory Unemployment Benefit be collected?
You can receive it for a minimum of four months and a maximum of two years. It all depends on the contributions that the employee has accumulated over the last 6 years. The more days of accumulated contributions, the longer you will receive this contributory unemployment benefit.
| Days of contribution | Days of benefits received |
| From 360 to 539 days of contribution | 120 days of benefit |
| From 540 to 719 days of contribution | 180 days of benefit |
| From 720 to 899 days of contribution | 240 days of benefit |
| From 900 to 1079 days of contribution | 300 days of benefit |
| From 1080 to 1259 days of contribution | 360 days of benefit |
| From 1260 to 1619 days of contribution | 420 days of benefit |
| From 1440 to 1619 days of contribution | 480 days of benefit |
| From 1620 to 1799 days of contribution | 540 days of benefit |
| From 1800 to 1979 days of contribution | 600 days of benefit |
| From 1980 to 2159 days of contribution | 660 days of benefit |
| From 2160 days of contribution | 720 days of benefit |
A rule of thumb to remember how long this contributory unemployment benefit lasts is “one month of unemployment for every three months of contributions”.
Contributions that had been used for a previous aid are not taken into account, this means that you cannot use the same contribution to receive two benefits.
In the event of having worked part-time, each day worked is considered a day of paid contributions, regardless of the working day. If with the part-time contract you worked 5 or more days a week, the contribution period will be equal to the duration of the contract. If the working day is distributed in less than 5 working days per week, the total number of days will be multiplied by the coefficient 1.4.
While the Contributory Unemployment Benefit is being collected, am I contributing to Social Security?
Yes. You can pay your contributions while you are receiving the contributory unemployment benefit. The SEPE pays 100% of the business contribution to Social Security and on the other hand, the employee also pays his quota, which is 4.7% of the regulatory base. The SEPE pays everything to Social Security and the employee’s part is deducted from the payroll of this benefit, in addition to the corresponding Personal Income Tax (IRPF).
Deadlines and procedures for requesting the Contributory Unemployment Benefit
Two steps are necessary:
- First: Register as a job seeker, that is, obtain the unemployment card.
- Second: Request the benefit within 15 business days following the last day you worked. Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are not counted. If the company has paid you for vacations because you have not taken them, they are counted as active days and you will have to wait for those days to pass to request unemployment.
Where can I apply for this Contributory Unemployment Benefit?
There are two ways to request this benefit:
- At the offices of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE). In all offices in Spain you can request an appointment by phone or online.
- Through the internet, on the SEPE website. Accessing the page recognition of the contributory benefit.
Required Documentation
- To request the economic benefit it is mandatory to have an unemployment card, that is, to have previously registered as a job seeker (you can learn how to register as a job seeker in this post). Otherwise, the SEPE cannot process any application for this benefit.
- Fill in the official application form for the contributory unemployment benefit. The form is delivered to the employment offices or it can be downloaded from the section Form to request the contributory unemployment benefit (PDF). This form incorporates information about the children who live with or are dependent on the applicant and the income, the bank address details, the activity commitment and the authorization to request information from the AEAT (Tax Agency).
- Valid identity documents (DNI, NIE, or passport) of the applicant and of the children who live with or are dependent on them and who appear in the application (it will be enough with the exhibition of the documents), and the Family Book or the equivalent document in the case of foreigners, legalized and translated.
- The company certificate of all the companies in which they have worked during the last six months. Actually, most companies send it electronically to the SEPE and do not personally deliver it to the worker (find out more information about the company certificate). Only in the event that the company does not send it to the SEPE, the employee would need to have it, signed and sealed, at the time of making the request for the benefit.
- Part-time work contracts that you have had in the last 6 years prior to their termination. This is usually required to calculate the number of days of paid contributions due to the fact of having worked part-time.
Contact us!
We want to listen to you and know what your questions are about the procedures you have to carry out. Count on the advice of our experts to clarify all your doubts.
In Entre Trámites we invite you to know about all our consultation services. Fill in our contact form and we will call you to help you as soon as possible, schedule your online consultation, or simply text our WhatsApp.
