Grants for the self-employed in Andalusia to support a first hire

Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2011 and describes a Junta de Andalucía grant programme as it stood then; the amounts, deadlines, conditions and administrative details may have changed, or the programme may have ended. Law 30/1992, cited in the procedure, was replaced by Law 39/2015 in 2016.

I imagine every autonomous community (Spain’s regions) has this kind of grant or incentive for the self-employed worker. In this case, the Junta de Andalucía (the Andalusian regional government) supports the self-employed person’s first hire, as well as the conversion of a fixed-term contract into a permanent one. We explain all the details below.

Who can benefit from these grants or subsidies?

This grant is available to people who work on their own account (the self-employed, known in Spain as autónomos). Priority groups for hiring: unemployed jobseekers registered as such, and workers employed on a fixed-term contract.

Responsible body

The Provincial Directorate of the Andalusian Employment Service (Servicio Andaluz de Empleo).

Application and decision deadlines

Application deadline: two months from the start of the employment relationship.

Decision deadline: six months from the date the application is entered in the register of the body responsible for processing it.

Description of the procedure

The aim is to encourage permanent hiring by supporting individuals who work on their own account and who make their first permanent hire or hires, or who simultaneously convert one or more fixed-term contracts into permanent ones, up to a maximum of five workers. The grant is a lump sum for each permanent contract, or each conversion of a fixed-term contract into a permanent one, that is formalised. The maximum amount of the incentive is set as follows:

• Up to 5,500 euros when the people hired are women who are victims of gender-based violence.
• Up to 5,000 euros when the people hired are women, or when the hiring takes place in priority areas designated for comprehensive employment measures.
• Up to 4,750 euros in all other cases.

These amounts apply to contracts or contract conversions with a working week of 40 hours, or the equivalent average over a year. If the hire or conversion is part-time, the amounts are reduced in proportion to the resulting working hours, which may in no case be fewer than 20 hours a week, or the equivalent average over a year.

Documents required

The applicant employer must provide (in duplicate, if applying in person):

• The application form, duly completed and signed.
• Where applicable, a certified photocopy of the power of attorney.
• A certified photocopy of registration in the Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), or whichever scheme legally or statutorily applies.
• Where applicable, certified photocopies of the TC2 forms (Social Security contribution statements) for the month in which the permanent hire or hires take place. If the applicant uses the RED system for sending data electronically to the Social Security, a certified copy of the original document signed by the applicant.
• Where applicable, a certified photocopy of the standard form “notice of conversion of a temporary contract into a permanent contract” approved by the competent body.
• A sworn statement about the grant requested.
• A bank transfer request signed by the applicant (or, where applicable, by the person acting on their behalf) and by the bank, using the template attached to the application.
• Authorisation from the person or people hired allowing the managing body to obtain information from the General Treasury of the Social Security.
• The annex listing the workers, duly completed.

Where and how to apply

Application forms are available at the Regional Ministry of Employment (Consejería de Empleo), at the Andalusian Employment Service and at the Regional Ministry’s provincial offices. They can also be downloaded and filled in online through the Regional Ministry of Employment’s Virtual Office, linked from its portal (www.juntadeandalucia.es/empleo), or through the Andalusian Employment Service’s Virtual Office, linked from its portal (www.juntadeandalucia.es/servicioandaluzdeempleo).

Applications can be submitted:

• On paper, preferably at the Registry of the Regional Ministry of Employment, Avenida de Hytasa 14, Seville, although they can also be submitted at the registries and offices referred to in Article 38.4 of Law 30/1992 of 26 November on the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedure.
• Online with a digital signature through the Virtual Office of the Junta de Andalucía’s Regional Ministry of Employment, linked from www.juntadeandalucia.es/empleo.

Note: Permanent jobs created through a new hire or through the conversion of a fixed-term contract into a permanent one must be kept for at least 4 years.

You can download and fill in the form in PDF format by clicking here.

Featured image: Peejayem, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.