Worker casualties due to coronavirus will be considered a work accident

The change in criteria of Social Security, approved this Tuesday, means improving the benefit for those affected, including the self-employed

Workers infected and isolated by the coronavirus will be on leave due to a work accident, according to a decree approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers (Text of the Royal Decree). This was announced by the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, among the new measures to combat the epidemic.

From the Social Security they emphasize that, considering a temporary disability due to an accident at work or occupational disease, "it means an improvement in the benefit both for people isolated and infected by the coronavirus, since they start to receive from the day after the leave labor, the 75% of the regulatory base, charged to the Administration”.
In the case of public employees affected by the coronavirus, they will receive 100% of their salary, as agreed by the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Function.

Therefore, there is a change of criteria. Just a couple of weeks ago, Social Security sent a circular stating that workers affected by the spread of the coronavirus would be on leave due to a common illness. This modification is one of the measures that appear this Wednesday in the package of measures requested by the UGT and CC.OO. to the government.

The Government assures that it wants to facilitate compliance with the indications of Health

The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations ensures that these measures of this type "are framed within the need to respond to the exceptional and transitory economic situation caused by COVID-19 and are in line with others taken by other neighboring countries ”.

The objective, they say in the department headed by José Luis Escrivá, "is to make it easier for citizens to follow the indications of the health authorities proposed for public health reasons, so that the cost does not fall on families and companies."

Also for the self-employed

According to Royal Decree-Law 6/2020 of March 10, both isolation and contagion will be considered a work accident, also in the case of self-employed workers. This is especially relevant in the collection of benefits derived from said leave. In the case of being considered a common illness, the self-employed person would only charge from the fourth day, and only 60% of the regulatory base for which he is contributing. This means that in the cases of professionals who contribute the minimum (more than 80%), they would charge 19 euros per day of leave.

However, with the new measure on the table, the self-employed person who is affected by this circumstance will collect the 75% from the regulatory base, and will do so from the day after the drop, as established by the Security guidelines. Social, in the case of sick leave or work accident. Continuing with the example of self-employed workers who contribute for the minimum, this will mean charging 23.61 euros per day, from the day after the aforementioned leave.

The only requirement, as established in article 5 of this Royal Decree Law, is to be registered on the date on which the causal event occurs.