The self-employed worker him/herself is directly responsible for complying with the obligation to apply for his/her affiliation. The self-employed worker shall have the same subsidiary responsibility regarding his/her collaborating relatives.

Regular Joint Companies, Limited Partnership Companies, and Associated Work Co-operatives shall have the same subsidiary responsibility regarding their associates.

Automatically by the Treasury General of the Social Security when, as a result of actions by the Labour and Social Security Inspection, data in the possession of the Social Security management bodies and common services, or by any other means, non-compliance with the obligation to apply for affiliation on the part of workers subject to said obligation is verified.

Coverage of the economic benefit for temporary disability  shall be mandatory as of 1 January 2008, according to the provision of Law 20/2007 of 11 July, the Self-employed Workers' Statute, for:

• Workers registered in the Special Scheme for Self-employed Workers
• Economically dependent workers
• Workers who perform activities where professional contingencies coverage is mandatory due to the higher risk of accidents,

And shall be optional for:

• Self-employed workers entitled to temporary disability benefit in another Social Security System scheme in which they are also registered  while they maintain their pluri-activity
• Workers  included in the Special System for Self-Employed Agricultural workers.

The option must be formalised with a mutual society partnered with Social Security at the time of registering in the Special Scheme, effective as of the time of registration.

Coverage of this contingency is voluntary, except for:

• Economically Dependent Self-Employed Workers (TRADE).
• Partners in Associated Work Cooperatives dedicated to street trading, who receive their income directly from the buyers.
• Self-employed workers that, without being members of co-operatives, make a living from street selling (CNAE-09: 4781, 4782, 4789 or 4799) in traditional markets or street markets a maximum of three days a week, with operating hours less than eight hours/day, who de not have their own permanent establishment, nor produce the items or products they sell.
• It will also be compulsory for those who conduct activities with a high risk of accident. (Waiting for new regulations)

The option for this contingency also covers termination of the labour activity.

The coverage for professional risks will be carried out with the same Insurance Entity that the Temporary Disability coverage has been signed.

Law 35/2014 of 26 December (BOE of 29 December) establishes the voluntary nature of the coverage for cessation of activity for self-employed workers as of 1 January 2015.

Workers registered in the Self-employed Workers Scheme can request this risk coverage.

The option must be formalised with the mutual society partnering with Social Security that covers the workers' common contingencies at the time of registering in this Special Scheme and will come into effect at the time of registration.

The option to reject or cover this risk that is not formalised at the time of registration must be completed before 1 October of each year and will come into force  as of 1 January of the following year.

Effects of affiliation:

• Initial or successive affiliations become effective from the first day of the calendar month in which all the requirements are met, provided that they have been applied for within the statutory period.
• Affiliations applied for outside the statutory period also become effective from the first day of the calendar month in which the requirements for inclusion within this Special Scheme are met.
• In such cases, notwithstanding the applicable administrative sanctions for late payment, the contributions corresponding to the periods prior to the formalisation of affiliation are due and become effective for the purpose of benefits once they are paid, with the legally applicable surcharges, except when these payments are not required due to expiry and, therefore they are not valid for the purpose of benefits, provided that affiliation was formalised after 1st January 1994.

Effects of termination of affiliation:

• Terminations of affiliation applied for within the specified period and in the specified manner become effective from the first day of the month following the one in which the worker ceased the activity determining his/her inclusion.
• If the worker does not request the termination of affiliation or requests it in a manner and during a period different from the ones specified for this purpose, or if this termination be performed automatically, the continued affiliation will have the effect of making contributions obligatory but the worker will not be considered to have the status of an active contributor regarding entitlement to benefits.
• In this case, the obligation to make contributions does not expire until the day on which the Treasury General of the Social Security becomes aware of the termination of the self-employed activity or of the situation determining inclusion within this Special Scheme.
• Despite the provisions of the previous paragraph, the interested parties may prove, by any of the means admitted by the law for the purpose of terminating the obligation to make contributions, that the termination of the activity took place on a different date.
• Simply requesting the termination of affiliation and its being granted does not end the obligation to make contributions nor does it have the same effects as termination, if the conditions needed for being included in this Special Scheme continue.