Spain warns that crisis cannot be used by employers as an excuse to fire workers
4812 Mins Read
The Spanish Cabinet held an extraordinary session on Friday, followed by a news conference at which the health, finance and labor ministers offered new information on the coronavirus crisis.
Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz warned that this crisis cannot be used by employers as an excuse to fire workers, and said the government is temporarily restricting layoffs based on force majeure or for economic, technical, organizational and production reasons alleging the effects of the coronavirus.
Temporary contracts will also remain in force for the duration of the crisis. Díaz said the government would also review all the temporary layoff plans (ERTEs) that are currently being filed by numerous companies, and which are the government’s preferred channel for businesses to adapt to the economic slowdown.
“The ERTEs were created specifically for this health crisis, and I urge the business community to lead by example, to show commitment to the people and to preserve jobs,” she said, cautioning that “we are going to do routine checks, and if we see any fraud, the companies will have to pay back every last cent, including employees’ unemployment benefits.”
Asked about the rapid diagnostic tests recently purchased from China that turned out to be unreliable, Health Minister Salvador Illa said a new shipment will arrive in the coming days. “And the tests that failed are not going to influence the evolution of the disease,” he said. “We do between 15,000 and 20,000 tests a day in Spain, and we are making efforts to buy fast tests.”
Illa sought to allay concerns that Spain, one of the world’s worst-hit countries, is desperately short of protective gear and medical equipment to deal with the crisis. “Seven million face masks are being distributed today,” he said. “The government continues to work to acquire all the products to wage this battle. We have closed contracts worth €578 million to purchase products.”
Finance Minister María Jesus Montero, who is also the government spokesperson, said that ministries are already working on plans in case the government should decide to enforce even stricter measures in a country that went into lockdown on March 14. “Our measures are the most drastic of all the ones that have been implemented,” she said. “We know they are life-altering.”
Montero also underscored that supermarkets in Spain remain well stocked and that the supply chain is guaranteed. “Spaniards have nothing to fear because they are going to find products at the supermarket.”
