As a general rule, any person who contributes for a minimum of 360 days (one year) has the right to collect contributory unemployment benefits (unemployment). Even so, it is very common for a contract to end before reaching that limit. In these cases, the worker can request the subsidy for insufficient contributions.
Faced with this situation, a very common question arises for many unemployed people: if I ask for this subsidy, will I lose the months that I have already contributed? The decision must be carefully considered, since it directly affects both your future aid from the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) and your Social Security record.
Are the months quoted lost or not?
To answer this question, we must separate how SEPE works (which manages unemployment) and how Social Security works (which manages pensions).
- For the SEPE (Yes they are lost): If you have between 3 and 11 months of contributions and decide to request the subsidy, those months are completely consumed. That is, your unemployment counter returns to zero. This means that, when you return to work, you will have to contribute an entire year from scratch to be entitled to a new contributory benefit.
- For Social Security (They are not lost): Although the SEPE sets your counter to zero for unemployment, Social Security does save those months. All the time you have worked will continue to accumulate in your working life and will add to your future retirement pension.
Which option is the most convenient?
The worker must analyze his economic urgency in relation to his future job. To access this subsidy, the INEM (SEPE) requires demonstrating lack of income, which means that your monthly income cannot exceed 75% of the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) current.
If you meet the requirement, you must evaluate the following:
1. Take advantage of the subsidy for insufficient contributions
After the last major subsidy reform, the amounts are no longer fixed, but rather go in sections linked to the IPREM to encourage a return to employment. Currently, the quantities are:
- First 6 months: 95% of the IPREM is charged (about 570 euros per month).
- Next 6 months: 90% of the IPREM is charged (about 540 euros per month).
- The rest of the period: 80% of the IPREM is charged (480 euros per month).
Note: The duration of the subsidy will depend on the number of months you have contributed and whether or not you have family responsibilities.
2. Wait and accumulate months to collect unemployment
The other alternative is not to request the subsidy due to insufficient contributions and keep the months that have already been accumulated. If the worker has an economic cushion and is close to reaching the required 12 months (360 days), it may be much more profitable to wait.
When you find a new job, even if it is short-term, you will be able to add these new contributions to those you already had saved in your SEPE “backpack.” Once you reach a full year of contributions, you will have the right to request contributory unemployment benefits (traditional unemployment), the amount of which is higher than the subsidy.
A now more simplified system
It must be remembered, and it is very important, that if you finally exhaust your contributory unemployment in the future, the SEPE reform eliminated old aid such as the RAI (Active Insertion Income) or the SED (Extraordinary Unemployment Subsidy) to unify everything in the general exhaustion subsidy. The only one that maintains its exceptional rules is the subsidy for people over 52 years of age, which allows you to collect a fixed amount until retirement age while the SEPE continues to contribute to Social Security for you.
Thus and for everything explained, if you have an urgent financial need, the subsidy will give you income, but at the cost of losing contributions. Now, if you are very close to the 12 months of contributions and you think you will soon find a job, it may be worth it to keep those months in your “backpack” for future unemployment.