For decades the organisations that represent this group have been calling for its protection. In December 2019 it was extended, under the name Reserva Asistencial Social.
Self-employed men and women will be better protected in the event of an accident at work. Good news, without doubt, for this group, which came in the form of a resolution on 13 December. The initiative was led by the Directorate General for Social Security Regulation—part of the Social Security system—which regulates the support that Mutual Insurance Societies for Occupational Accidents and Diseases must provide for occupational contingencies (illnesses, accidents). It is a new support package called the Reserva Asistencial Social (Social Assistance Reserve).
Self-employed workers in Spain are 62.3 % men and 37.7 % women, according to the 3rd National Self-Employment Study (ENA) of 2019, published by Infoautónomos in collaboration with the University of Granada (UGR), which can be consulted at this link. 72.6 % of self-employed workers are afraid to take sick leave, a revealing figure with regard to the subject at hand.
The Federación Nacional de Asociaciones de Trabajadores Autónomos (ATA) promoted this support in 2017, within the Special Benefits Committee of Mutua Universal, of which it is a member. The beneficiaries will be workers who have suffered an accident, as well as their spouse (or partner) and children.
What does this support consist of?
According to ATA, the order regulates benefits that are at the discretion of the mutual insurance societies; they must now be assumed by order of the Social Security system. It also means the removal of a financial grant for employing a person for one year, which was intended to replace the injured self-employed worker during their recovery.
In this way, the Reserva Asistencial Social comes to protect self-employed workers, bringing them up to the level of protection of salaried employees (complementing initiatives such as support for unemployed self-employed workers). The order includes the following benefits:
- Support for the worker’s rehabilitation and treatment in special centres
- Adaptation of the home or vehicle (to remove barriers)
- Travel expenses for the worker and their family
- Advanced prostheses
- Home help
- Courses for job placement (with the aim of retraining)
Occupational accidents or diseases are a major headache for the self-employed. In the case of sectors such as the one REAC represents—roadside assistance companies—occupational accidents are clearly a concern, given the contexts in which member companies carry out their activity.