With the amendment of D.A. 52ª LGSS (Additional Provision Fifty-second of Royal Decree Law 8/2015 of the General Social Security Law) all trainees must be included in the Social Security system and, therefore, pay Social Security contributions.
Who is included in this provision?
- Internships carried out by university students aimed at obtaining official bachelor’s and master’s degrees, doctorates and university degrees (whether a continuing education master’s degree, a specialization or expert diploma)
- Those carried out by vocational training students. It may not be in cases of intensive vocational training, since this requires the formalization of a training contract and, therefore, would constitute an employment relationship
- Higher artistic education, i.e., higher studies in music and dance, drama, conservation and restoration of cultural property, higher studies in design or plastic arts (ceramics and glass)
- Professional artistic education in music and dance, as well as intermediate and higher degrees of practical arts and design
- Sports education.
This does not include students who, during the internship, are registered for the performance of another activity (in any of the regimes), in a situation assimilated to that of being registered with obligation to pay contributions or during which the period is considered as having paid contributions for benefit purposes. Neither are those who have the status of retirement or permanent disability pensioners.
However, the obligor must report the registration, and the TGSS will decide whether it is appropriate at the time of settlement.
Non-regulated training courses are also excluded.
Who assumes the Social Security obligation and how should these academic internships be covered?
Previously, this obligation only applied to paid internships. With this provision, the scope of application has been extended and all the students described above will be registered for their training internships, whether paid or unpaid.
However, this does not mean that the relationship between the students and the Company is an employment relationship.
In the case of paid training internships, the Social Security obligations will correspond to the entity financing the training program or whoever pays the financial compensation. The contribution will be in accordance with the rules of contribution for work-linked training contracts, following the minimum base of group 7, corresponding to administrative assistants:
| Concept | Company | Employee | Total |
| Common Contingencies | 53,61€/month | 10,69€/month | 64,30€/month |
| Occupational Accidents and Occupational Diseases | 3,82€/month IT (Temporary disability) | 7,38€/month | |
| 3,56€/month IMS (Permanent Disability, Death and Survivorship) | |||
| Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) | Excluded |
In the case of unpaid internships, it will be the company where the internship is carried out who will comply with the Social Security obligations, unless the collaboration agreement indicates that it corresponds to the training center.
The contribution will be a daily quota for common contingencies (excluding IT coverage) and professional contingencies, without exceeding the maximum quota indicated. The contribution base will be the minimum base of group 8, corresponding to first and second officers, for the number of days of training, limited to the minimum base of group 7.
| Concept | Company | Employee | Total |
| Common Contingencies (IT excluded) | 2,67€/day | 2,67€/day (monthly maximum: 60,76€) | |
| Occupational Accidents and Occupational Diseases | 0,17€/day (IT) | 0,33€/día (monthly maximum: 7,38€ (3,82€ of IT and 3,56€ of IMS)) | |
| 0,16€/day (IMS) | |||
| Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI) | Excluded |
In no case, whether paid or unpaid, shall they pay contributions for unemployment, FOGASA or professional training.
One of the big changes with this regulation is the deduction in the base of common contingencies (applicable during 2024). Those who comply with this provision will have a 95% bonus, which will be incompatible with any other benefit in the contribution and, for this reason, the contract identifiers are unified:
| Paid internship | Unpaid internship | |
| RLCE (Special Employment Relationship) | 9939 (Paid internships according to DA 52 LGSS) | D.A. 52nd of the TRLGS 4.b): The TGSS will request the assignment of a specific CCC for this group of people. By having a specific CCC, it is not necessary to communicate any type of RLCE. |
| TRL (Type of Employment Relationship) / Exclusion of Contribution | 986 (Training programs) | 993 (Unpaid Internships) |
The internships that fall outside the scope of DA 52 LGSS will be identified with TRL 986 (Training Programs) and RLCE 9923 (Non-labor internships in companies).
