Former students will be able to recover their internship periods or research training programs as years of contributions

MADRID, 30 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has approved the order that will allow the recovery of the contribution of those students who in the past carried out periods of training internships, external academic internships or the participation of university graduates, through studies doctoral officers in training programs of a research nature, both in Spain and abroad.

Those who have participated in these programs may sign a special agreement, for a single time, with the General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS), which will allow them to calculate these contribution periods up to a maximum of five years, as reported by the Ministry.

"Today is a very important day. This measure represents the Government's best definition of social justice. We expand the rights of the youngest, of people who are now entering the labor market, but we also repair the imbalances and open the window to those who They did not have that option in the past," highlighted Minister Elma Saiz.

The measure benefits former university students; former students of Vocational Training (except when the internships had been provided in the intensive Vocational Training regime), as well as former students of Higher Artistic Education, Professional Artistic Education and Sports Education of the Educational System.

Also to those university graduates who, through official doctoral studies, had participated before 02/04/2006 (date of entry into force of the Statute of Research Personnel in Training) in training programs of a research nature, both in Spain and abroad.

"The Government has heard a cry from many groups whose work has been an engine of progress for our society for years. We must, as a society, feel proud that the public is synonymous with guarantee and trust. Therefore, the time has come to facilitate thousands of people a way to recover this right," said the minister.

Among the requirements to sign the agreement are that the unpaid internships must have occurred prior to January 1, 2024 and, in the case of paid internships, their completion must have occurred prior to November 1, 2011. To qualify To this special agreement, interested parties must prove the duration of the training programs in which they have participated.

These former students will be assimilated to employed workers for the purposes of their inclusion in the General Social Security Regime. Thus, the contribution for the internship periods recognized in this special agreement will have as its purpose the coverage of retirement benefits and permanent disability and death and survival benefits derived from common contingencies.

The contribution base for the special agreement will be constituted by the minimum contribution base for common contingencies corresponding to group 7 of contributions of the General Social Security Regime in force in 2024, to which a reducing coefficient of 0.77 will be applied. by 100.

Once the total amount of the contribution to be paid by this special agreement has been calculated by the TGSS, its payment can be made through a single payment or through a payment divided into a maximum number of monthly payments equal to those for which the agreement is formalized. . Said order will come into force on the first day of the month following that of its publication in the Official State Gazette.

Since January 1, 2024, students who carry out training internships, paid or unpaid, are included in the Social Security system. Since that moment, almost 570,000 students have remained registered for at least one day, according to data from the General Treasury of Social Security.

"Now it is everyone's job to educate young people that being part of this system and generating future rights with an earlier start to their contribution career only has advantages. The system needs them as much as they need it. It is my commitment to work tirelessly to bring Social Security closer to this group and make them feel an unequivocal part of one of our pillars of the Welfare State," Saiz concluded.