Author: Laura Valderrama
What is the Unemployment Protection Mechanism?
The unemployment protection mechanism guarantees the social protection of workers in future unemployment scenarios, maintaining access to health care, pension contributions, continuity of family allowance and access to job search and job training services through entities such as SENA and family compensation funds, which are financed by the creation of an employment solidarity and unemployment protection fund, in addition to the available balances of severance payments in their individual account, with the objective of protecting them from the drop in labor income when the worker is unemployed or without active employment.
What are the requirements to access the unemployment protection mechanism?
The benefit of protection for the unemployed is applicable globally to workers in the private and public sectors who have contributed to the family compensation fund for at least one continuous or discontinuous year during the last three years. Exceptions are made for voluntary affiliation to workers who have integral remuneration or are independent workers.
In order to access the unemployment protection mechanism, self-employed workers with voluntary affiliation must make contributions during the last two (2) years continuously or discontinuously during the last three (3) years.
Their employment situation has ended for any reason or, in the case of self-employed workers, their contract has expired and they do not have any other form of income.
Additionally, they must be registered in any of the authorizing employment services belonging to the network of employment services and be enrolled in training programs.
To be eligible for the monetary incentive for voluntary severance savings, workers earning up to two (2) legal monthly minimum wages in force must save at least 10% of the average monthly salary of the last year and for those earning more than two (2) legal minimum wages in force the savings must be at least 25% per month of the last year.
Finally, they must not have been a beneficiary of the unemployment subsidy in the last three (3) years in any family compensation fund.
Can the employee use the severance pay for savings in the unemployment protection mechanism?
Workers may voluntarily assign a percentage of their severance pay to cover the lack of income when they are unemployed and additionally receive a proportional monetary benefit of savings charged to a solidarity fund for employment and protection of the unemployed FOSFEC subject to national regulations of the Government.
What is the term for benefit recognition?
The solidarity fund for the promotion of employment and protection of the unemployed shall verify within ten (10) business days following the request of the unemployed and in case of not being eligible for not meeting the requirements, he/she may file an appeal for reconsideration before the FOSFEC.
What is the term and benefits of the Unemployment Protection Mechanism?
The term of the benefit is six (6) months or when the beneficiary establishes a new employment relationship within the term of six (6) months or does not comply with the obligations under the protection mechanism for the unemployed. And that said benefit will be incompatible and not subject to application for paid activities and payment of any type of pension.
The benefits received during the term of the six (6) months integrate contributions to the health and pension system on a base contribution income of one (1) legal minimum monthly salary in force, payment of monetary quota for family subsidy and the dismissed worker made voluntary savings for the severance pay, will receive a monetary incentive proportional to the amount saved in FOSFEC, economic benefits that will not exceed in general terms the six (6) months and will not exceed two (2) legal minimum salaries in force.
Source: Law 1636 of 2016
