As a result of Law 28/2011 of 22 September (BOE of the 23rd), employed workers who are included in the Special Agricultural Scheme on 31 December 2011 and the employers to whom they provide their services shall be integrated into the General Scheme of the Social Security from 1 January 2012 -the date that said law comes into force- through the creation of a special system.

Employed workers who carry out agricultural, forestry or livestock work or who are supplementary to or assist in these tasks, on farms, as well as the employers to whom they provide their services, shall also be included in the General Scheme of the Social Security.

Contributions for employed agricultural workers and the employers to whom they provide their services shall be governed by the current regulations in the General Scheme of the Social Security, with the following particular conditions:

For the purposes of Social Security contributions in the Special System for Employed Agricultural Workers, a distinction shall be made between working and non-working periods.

Contributions can be made using daily bases, based on actual workdays, or using monthly bases, depending on the choice of the employer. If this choice is not expressly made by the employer, it shall be deemed that they have opted for monthly contribution bases.

This monthly contribution method will be compulsory for employed workers on permanent contracts, not including employees who provide services on an intermittent-permanent basis, for whom this contribution method will be optional.

From 1 January 2017 onwards, the bases applicable to workers included in this Special System will be determined according to the provisions of article 147 of Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, of 30 October, approving the consolidated text of the General Social Security Act.

When contributions are made using daily bases, the provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall be understood to refer to each actual workday, although this may not be less than the minimum daily contribution basis provided for in law.

Additional contributions for overtime are not applicable to workers included in this Special system.

The increase in the employer contribution for common contingencies of 36% set forth for temporary contracts of an effective duration of less than seven days will also not apply.

In 2017, the monthly contribution basis applicable for employees included in this Special Scheme, during periods of inactivity, will be €825.60, with a contribution rate of 11.50%.

The contributions for these periods of inactivity shall be calculated by applying the following formula:

C=[(n/N) - (jr x 1.304/N)]bc x tc

Where:

C= Amount of contribution.

n= Number of days in the Special System without paying contributions using monthly contribution bases.

N= Number of days with active contributor status in the Special System during the calendar month.

jr= Number of days in the calendar month in which actual days have been worked.

bc= Monthly contribution basis.

tc= Applicable contribution rate.

Under no circumstances can the application of this formula lead to C with a value of less than zero.

When workers do not have active contributor status in the Special System for an entire calendar month, the contributions for non-working periods will be proportionate to the number of days they have active contributor status in this month.

It shall be understood that there are non-working periods within a calendar month when the number of working days worked during this month is less than 76.67% of the calendar days in which the worker has active contributor status in this Special System.

Without prejudice to the foregoing, there will be no non-working periods within a calendar month when the worker completes a minimum of 5 actual workdays per week for the same employer, in accordance with the applicable collective agreement.

If, while receiving the contributory unemployment benefit, contributions must be paid to this Special System, the contribution basis will be as established in article 8 of Order ESS/106/2017, of 9 February. The contribution rate in this situation will be 11.50%.

With regard to responsibility for paying in contributions for employed agricultural workers, there are the following particular conditions:

a) During working periods, the employer is responsible for fulfilling the requirement to pay contributions, having to pay all of the employer and worker contributions, and reporting the actual days worked by workers during the regulation period.

To this end, the employer shall deduct the appropriate contributions from each of their workers when paying their wages.

If the employer does not make the deductions at that time, they cannot make them later and will be solely responsible for paying in all of the contributions.

During these periods, the employer is solely responsible for paying in contributions for occupational contingencies.

b) During non-working periods, the worker is responsible for fulfilling the requirement to pay contributions and making the relevant payments.

c) During periods of temporary disability, risk during pregnancy and risk during breastfeeding, as well as maternity and paternity during working periods, the employer is only responsible for paying the employer contributions.

The worker contributions shall be paid by the organisation that is making the direct payment of the benefits for the specified situations.

Paying contributions:

Responsibility:
In both contribution modes, for a monthly basis (depending on the number of registered days per month) and a daily basis (depending on the number of work days completed), the employer will be responsible for making the entire payment, both their own contribution and the contribution of their workers, so they must withhold the workers' contributions from their wages.

Within the first six days of each month, agricultural companies must report the actual days worked by employees with a daily contribution mode.

Deadlines:
Payments shall be made the month after they are accrued.

Documents to be submitted:
Contribution Slip (TC-1/8) and Payroll List of Workers (TC-2/8).

Electronic submission of documents (RED)
The General Directorate of the Social Security General Treasury can authorise the Electronic, computerised or online submission of the information contained in the workers' payroll report TC-2/8. Reporting data using the above methods will determine compliance with the obligation to file contribution documents within the regulatory period.

The use of the RED System enables contributions to be paid online or by direct debit.

If the company chooses the electronic method of payment, the payment will be made at any financial institution that collaborates with the Social Security with the receipt provided by the Social Security Treasury General via the RED System.

If only the direct debit method of payment is chosen, they will have to specify the account number they wish the payment to be drawn from, and do not need to attend the bank in person.

Place:
The contribution documents for payment may be presented at any Financial Entity (Banks, Savings Banks, Credit Co-operatives or Rural Banks) authorised to act as a Collection Office.

Effects of presenting the documentation within the regulatory period
Presenting the contribution documents within the regulatory period has the following effect:

• If, in addition to presenting the documents, payment is made within the regulatory period, the corresponding deductions for reductions or allowances may be applied.
• By filing on time, no infringement classed as serious in article 22 of R.D. 5/2000, of 4 August, approving the revised text of the Welfare Penalties and Sanctions Act, will be committed nor will any criminal responsibility arise from this.

Surcharges and late payment penalty

Once the regulatory time period for payments to Social Security has ended without the payments having been made, and without prejudice to the special treatment given to instalment payments, the following surcharges will be levied:

• Presenting the contribution documents within the regulatory period:
  
  • Surcharge of 20% of the debt, if paid after the period expires.
    
    
• Without presenting the contribution documents within the deadline:
  
  
  • Surcharge of 20% of the debt, if the payments owed are made before the end of the deadline established in the debt claim or settlement report.
  • Surcharge of 35% of the debt, if the payments owed are made after this deadline.
    
    
• Late payment penalty:

  The late payment penalty is accrued from the day following the end of the regulatory payment period, although it will be demandable after fifteen days following notification of the enforcement ruling or communication of the start of the deduction procedure, if the debt has not been paid off.

  Likewise, this penalty will also be payable when the debt amount has not been paid within the period set in rulings rejecting appeals presented against the debt claims or settlement reports, if the execution of these rulings should be suspended in the contentious-administrative appeal process.

  The late payment penalty required will be the interest on the principal sum due, accrued from the end of the regulatory payment period, plus the interest accrued on the surcharge applicable at the time of payment, from the date on which it is demandable, according to the above paragraph.

  The late payment penalty rate will be the legal interest on money in force at any time during the period of accrual, plus 25 percent, unless established otherwise under the General State Budget Act. For 2017, it is 3.75%.