Madrid approves aid for self-employed workers on temporary disability leave

The Community of Madrid has approved the regulatory bases and the procedure for granting aid for the substitution of self-employed workers and support in situations of temporary disability. The Order of September 14, 2026, issued by the Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment, Rocío Albert López-Ibor, is published in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid no. 231, of September 28, 2026, within section I.C “Other Provisions” (reference BOCM-20260928-26). The regulation comes into force the day following its publication.

The order is issued in accordance with the powers attributed to the General Directorate of Self-Employed and Entrepreneurship by Decree 230/2023, of September 6, and aligns with the commitments of the Madrid Strategy for Employment 2025-2027. The program is part of the Special Strategic Grant Plan approved on July 27, 2026, and is financed through sub-concept 47200 of Program 241-N of the Expenditure Budget of the Community of Madrid, with funds from the State Public Employment Service.

The origin of the program is the contribution gap left by state regulations: article 309.2 of the General Social Security Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, of October 30, establishes that from the 61st day of temporary disability, the payment of contributions corresponds to the mutual insurance company or the State Public Employment Service, meaning the first sixty days remain uncovered. The Community of Madrid thus aims to reduce the cost of the contribution to zero in these situations.

Two lines of aid and amounts

The program consists of two lines, which are compatible with each other provided that the requirements for each are met:

• First line: aid for the substitution of the self-employed worker in situations of birth, adoption, guardianship for adoption purposes or foster care, risk during pregnancy, risk during natural breastfeeding, and long-term temporary disability, understood as exceeding 120 days. The amount is up to 1,250 euros per month, with a maximum subsidizable period of six months.
• Second line: aid for the payment of the self-employed worker’s contributions in a situation of temporary disability, with a maximum of 1,606 euros per month and a limit of the first 60 days.

In the first line, the aid may be requested only once for each individual or multiple birth, adoption, or foster care; in the case of temporary disability, once per calendar year. The second line only allows one application per period of temporary disability and calendar year.

Beneficiary Requirements

Beneficiaries may be natural persons who carry out an economic activity on their own account and are registered in the Special Social Security Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) or in an alternative social providence mutual fund, in accordance with Law 20/2007, of July 11, on the Statute of Self-Employed Work. The following are required:

• To be up to date with tax obligations to the General State Administration, the Community of Madrid, and Social Security.
• To carry out the activity in the Community of Madrid.
• For the first line, to have formalized a substitution contract and for the hired person to be unemployed and registered as a job seeker in the offices of the Community of Madrid for at least one day within the 15 calendar days prior to hiring.
• Full-time or part-time contract, with a minimum working day of 50%.

The grants are subject to the de minimis regime of Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, of December 13, 2023, which limits the total granted to a single company to 300,000 euros in any three-year period.

Processing and deadlines

The granting is processed under a simplified competitive bidding regime, with a single priority criterion: the chronological order of submission of applications in the electronic registry. The instructing body is the General Directorate competent in matters of self-employment, which will submit the proposed resolution to the head of the Department.

• The maximum period for resolution is six months from the submission of the application; if this period passes without an express resolution, it is understood to be rejected by administrative silence.
• Applications are submitted by electronic means through the electronic office of the Community of Madrid, with a recognized electronic certificate and registration in the Telematic Notification System of the Community of Madrid (NOTE).
• The first line is incompatible with the Agreement of December 28, 2022, of the Governing Council, for the promotion of hiring, except for the transformation of the temporary substitution contract into a permanent one under line 5 of the incentives.

The specific call will begin on the same day as the publication of its summary in the BOCM, which will set the deadline for the submission of applications.

The measure affects a key group in the regional economy: self-employed workers whose activity is interrupted by sick leave or family leave will be able to cover both the cost of their substitute and their own contributions during the first 60 days of incapacity, the period that until now they assumed entirely. Furthermore, the text arrives with a vocation for continuity, as it is framed within the Special Strategic Grant Plan and the Madrid for Employment Strategy 2025-2027.

Source: Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid, no. 231, September 28, 2026, section I.C “Other Provisions”, page 197 (official reference: BOCM-20260928-26).