If you were an intern some time ago, the Government opened the door for you to be able to turn your internship period into months or years of contributions to help collect your retirement or certain benefits. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Minister Elma Saiz, who argued that the measure “represents the best definition of social justice.” “The government has heard a clamor,” stressed the head of the Participation, Social Security and Immigration portfolio. Advertisement received some applausebut also a good dose of criticism.

The reason is simple: This measure allows you to recoup years of contributions from your internship periods, something that may benefit you when you retire, but the real question is… Whose pockets bear the financial burden of doing this?

What did the government announce? This will allow students who once interned without contributions to turn this phase of their education into months or years of contributions. Specifically, it will allow administration for up to five years. To this end, the Ministry of Participation and Social Security approved an order published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) yesterday.

Minister Elma Saiz argued that this measure adds to the advantages that current scholarship recipients already enjoy. Since January 1, 2024, students have been included in the Social Security system, whether paid or not, in educational practices, and according to the data of the Undersecretariat of Treasury, approximately 570,000 students have benefited.

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Who is the measure aimed at? However, after the change in January, one question remained: What should be done for the thousands of former students who were on scholarship at that time years ago and did not have the opportunity to calculate their internships during the contribution period? This is the challenge that the government now wants to address. “We are expanding the rights of the youngest currently entering the labor market, but we are also repairing imbalances and opening windows to those who do not have that option,” Saiz says.

The initiative announced this week therefore targets interns doing unpaid work before January 1. If they have received compensation for their internships, they must have done so before November 1, 2011. None of the dates are random. Since last January, unpaid internships have already been counted as contribution. In October 2011, a Royal Decree was published regulating the contributions of scholarship recipients at the BOE.

Sharpen focus. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Social Security announced who the new measure targets. The focus is on university and vocational training graduates and graduates of higher arts, vocational and sports training courses, excluding those who have completed intensive internships.

The measure will also cover university graduates who once participated in research training programs through formal doctoral studies. It doesn’t matter whether they do this in Spain or another country. What you should not forget is that it was before February 4, 2006, the date when the Research and Training Personnel Regulation came into force.

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So how is it managed? Those who want to add to their contribution by making up for their scholarship period in internship or research training programs must sign a special contract with the Social Security General Treasury. The agreement will give interested parties flexibility in deciding what period to use, but this period can never exceed five years. Another important aspect is that the measure stipulates a maximum of two years for the deal to be processed, so once it is published in the BOE, administration must be done before May 2026.

“These former students will be likened to employed workers for the purpose of their inclusion in the General Social Security Regime. Thus, the contribution in respect of the periods of internship recognized in this special agreement, retirement benefits and permanent disability and death and survival arise from the common probabilities”.

From theory to pocket. The Ministry touched on another equally important issue: the agreement with Social Security will determine the minimum contribution base for common contingencies corresponding to the 7th contribution group of the General Social Security Regime in force this year. A discount factor of 0.77 will be applied to this total. In practice, this is equivalent to approximately 290 euros for each internship month for which the former student wishes to verify his contribution. For example, for half a year this amount will be around 1,700 Euros.

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So who pays for this? Million dollar question. And the one who sparks controversy. The government states that those who want to benefit from the initiative must prove the months or years they have completed their training programs. In addition, the General Directorate of Treasury stated that after calculating the contribution, the amount can be paid all at once or in installments, provided that it does not exceed the number of months to be approved. In other words, the payment for the half-year internship period can be divided into a maximum of six payments.

“The contribution is based on the updated minimum contribution base for 2024 and has a reduction coefficient of 0.77, representing a reduction of 23% –definite Minister of State for Social Security. “Payment will be made in one lump sum or in installments, at the applicant’s option, with a maximum equal to the number of monthly payments for which the agreement is formalised.”

The BOE notes that people who can request a contract with Social Security are former students who qualify, and that it is the applicant who decides whether entry will be paid or paid in installments in monthly installments. “In either case, the deposit must be made through a direct debit system opened at a financial institution authorized to act as a Social Security collection office,” he explains.

Criticisms of networks. The prospect that former students will be the ones paying to convert training phases into paid years has sparked criticism on the networks. “Former research and teaching assistants are very disappointed” I met a user He is not the only person to question the implementation of the measure.

“This measure by PSOE is very shameful: Firstly, many research grant recipients had no contribution in those years because the INSTITUTION that awarded the fellowship avoided paying the contribution, not the grantee, and now they are asking the grantee to pay how much the entity should have paid”, regrets in x Dr. Pablo Barrecheguren. The AfectadosBecasSS account highlighted the deal, details of which were published directly at the BOE yesterday. “regiment”.

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