Collecting unemployment in the case of self-employed workers entails some particular features, different from that of an employee. For example, the self-employed must have contributed due to cessation of activity for a period of four years, to have access to one year of benefit, while in the case of General Scheme workers, only one year is required to have worked to access in its own right to two years of benefit.

The RETA or Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers is affected by a series of particular conditions that make the unemployment benefit very peculiar. For example, in 2017, 3,803 applications for the cessation of activity were submitted and only 1,710 were granted in the first instance. The rest were either refused (they did not meet the required requirements) or remained in the study phase (always according to Social Security data).

Today only 15% of the self-employed would be contributing due to cessation of activity. The rest, take advantage of common contingencies.

Next, we write down what would be the requirements that we would have to meet in order to access that unemployment benefit:

Requirements to Apply For the Unemployment Benefit: Self-Employed

• Being registered as self-employed
• Be current of payments in this respect.
• Have been contributed for a minimum of 12 months as a cessation of activity (immediately prior to the application)
• You do not have the minimum retirement age
• Be registered in the public employment service

For greater security and confidence, we encourage you to consult our professionals in case of Cessation of Activity in Self-Employed Workers.