Disgusting surprise For thousands of self-employed workers four years after the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. This is the case reported by “El matí de Catalunya Ràdio” Monica de Castroa music therapist who specializes in dementia, was unable to work during the quarantine because no one could enter the nursing homes, where she usually does her work.
Like Monica de Castro Confederation of Self-Employed Workers of Catalonia CTAC reported that 10% of self-employed workers who received aid during the pandemic received a letter asking them to return a portion of those funds because they did not meet all of the required requirements.
Almost all requests for assistance were met
In mid-March 2020, under complete quarantine, the Ministry of Social Security launched assistance grants for self-employed workers who cannot work or whose turnover has significantly decreased due to restrictions. In total, they were awarded You help over one and a half million people who are self-employed And that at that time they just had to make sure they met the requirements, without having to prove it.
The cooperatives were responsible for administering aid and They positively acknowledged 96% of requests. But in recent months, they have revised it to give final approval and reported that in many cases the requirements were not met, which is why they are now demanding money.
a Monica de Castro – That he had to completely stop the activity – they claimed that he did Five thousand euros Because her joint venture company informed the Social Security Treasury that it had not proven anything when requesting assistance. But de Castro did not sit idly by. He collected all the necessary information and ended up being given the right, although it was not easy, as he explained:
“I tried to contact the subscribers by land, sea and air, but it was very complicated because they did not answer any calls or any emails I sent to them. Then I contacted the Autonomous Federation of Catalonia, who told me that I was entitled to these benefits.”
Monica de Castro regrets that, despite everything, They already charged him part of the money They claimed – more than a thousand euros – that they will now have to repay.
What should we do if we receive the message?
Official spokesman Union of Independent Workers of Catalonia, Dani Garcia, regrets the disruption that has caused many people to notice that they have to return some money, which is often unjustified. He says this is “hard to believe” because it was not very significant amounts compared to the aid received by major companies that no one is asking for.
Danny Garcia recommends it to freelancers who received the letter Let them move To avoid returning aid received as a result of the pandemic:
“Let the people who have this issue go to their management or call us and we’ll handle it. The claims we manage and take credit for, we win and the workers won’t have to pay anything back.”
A spokesman for the Catalan Self-Employed Union recalls that during the coronavirus outbreak, many freelancers remained on the sidelines, and adds that for a self-employed person, €1,500 represents a big gap.
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