A woman must return 1,811.93 euros to the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) after traveling to Morocco without communicating it while collecting unemployment benefits. The woman alleged that she had to be out of Spain for more than 15 days due to having tested positive for Covid, but the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid determined that she should have given notice of her departure abroad, therefore extinguishing her benefit and the obligation to return the amounts improperly collected.
According to the ruling, the woman had unemployment benefits recognized, but on February 12, 2022, she traveled to Morocco and did not return to Spain until March 8 of that same year. The SEPE detected that the departure exceeded 15 calendar days and that, in addition, it had not been previously communicated, so it initiated the file that ended with the termination of the benefit and the claim for 1,811.93 euros corresponding to the period between February 12 and June 28, 2022.
The woman explained that she could not return sooner because she had been in contact with a positive person and that the result confirmed that she had Covid, which forced her to delay the trip until she tested negative. That was the reason he gave to justify his stay in Morocco being extended until March 8. Even so, the SEPE rejected his explanations and therefore decided to go to court.
He did not inform the SEPE of his departure abroad
Both the Social Court and later the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid agreed with the SEPE. They explain that departures abroad for a period of no more than 15 calendar days do not require the suspension or termination of the benefit, but that, when the stay exceeds that limit and reaches up to 90 days, the rule requires that the departure has been previously communicated and authorized by the SEPE so that the suspension of the aid can operate. If this obligation is not met, the consequence is no longer simple suspension.
The Chamber also recalls that the failure to communicate a trip abroad for more than 15 days fits into the serious infraction regulated in article 25.3 of the Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Orderwhich may lead to the termination of the benefit and the refund of what was improperly collected. To support this interpretation, he cites Supreme Court doctrine and also the position of the Constitutional Court on the proportionality of that sanction.
In this case, the court emphasizes that the stay outside Spain was longer than 15 days, that the beneficiary did not inform the SEPE of the trip either before traveling, nor during her stay in Morocco, nor after returning, and that the cause she invoked to justify this lack of communication was not sufficiently proven. That is, the ruling does not dispute that the woman presented that explanation, but rather understands that she was unable to demonstrate it in the procedure.
For all these reasons, the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid rejects the appeal and ratifies the ruling of the Social Court. In this way, it confirms the termination of the unemployment benefit and the obligation to return to the SEPE the 1,811.93 euros received unduly.