SEPE and ISM Share IT Systems for Maritime Benefits 2026

Key data

Sailors, fishermen and workers in the maritime-fishing sector who apply for unemployment benefits will notice a direct improvement in the speed of their procedures. The agreement signed on May 4, 2026 between the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) and the Instituto Social de la Marina (ISM) formalizes the transfer of use of SEPE's applications, services and IT tools to ISM, the organization responsible for managing unemployment benefits for this specific group.

The Under-Secretariat Resolution was published in the BOE on May 11, 2026. The agreement also regulates the processing of information shared between both entities, in compliance with current data protection regulations.

What does this regulation establish?

The agreement has two main differentiated purposes:

• Transfer of technological use: SEPE makes its applications, services and IT tools available to ISM for managing unemployment benefits. ISM can thus access SEPE's technological systems without needing to develop its own parallel infrastructure.
• Information processing: The legal framework is regulated under which both organizations share and process data of maritime-fishing sector workers, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.

ISM is the organization that, due to its specialized nature, manages unemployment benefits for the maritime-fishing group in a differentiated way from other workers. Until now, the lack of technological integration between SEPE and ISM could generate duplications in data management and slow down procedures. This agreement eliminates that operational gap.

The agreement does not modify the requirements for accessing unemployment benefits or their amounts. Its scope is strictly technological and administrative: it improves the management channel, not the conditions of the benefit.

Economic and operational impact

This agreement does not generate new economic obligations for companies in the maritime-fishing sector or their workers. Its impact is fundamentally operational and translates into:

• Reduction in processing times: By sharing systems, ISM can manage benefit applications with the same tools as SEPE, avoiding manual processes of transferring information between organizations.
• Elimination of duplications: Worker data does not need to be entered or validated twice in different systems, which reduces errors and administrative delays.
• Greater administrative coordination: Technological integration between SEPE and ISM improves case file traceability and facilitates incident resolution.
• Compliance with data protection regulations: The agreement establishes a clear legal framework for information exchange between organizations, reducing the risk of non-compliance in data protection when managing maritime worker case files.

For shipping companies, fishing cooperatives and employers in the maritime-fishing sector, the indirect impact is positive: their workers will have faster access to benefits in case of unemployment, which reduces tensions in temporary employment regulation processes or campaign contract terminations.

Who does it affect?

• Sailors and ship crew members who apply for unemployment benefits managed by ISM.
• Fishermen and workers in the fishing sector in situations of unemployment or employment regulation.
• Other workers in the maritime-fishing sector whose unemployment benefits correspond to Instituto Social de la Marina.
• Shipping companies and employers in the maritime sector, indirectly, by improving the management of their workers' benefits.
• Fishing cooperatives and sector organizations that advise their members on benefit procedures.
• Administrative managers and labor advisors who process unemployment case files for maritime-fishing sector workers before ISM.

Practical example

A deep-sea sailor who ends his employment contract and applies for unemployment benefit with Instituto Social de la Marina. Before this agreement, ISM had to manage his case file with its own systems, potentially disconnected from SEPE's, which could involve manual verification of contributions, periods worked or previous unemployment situations registered in SEPE's systems.

With the agreement in force since May 4, 2026, ISM directly accesses SEPE's IT applications to consult and manage that information in an integrated manner. The result is a case file processed more quickly, lower risk of errors from manual data transfer and faster resolution for the worker.

For the labor advisor or administrative manager accompanying the sailor in the process, this translates into fewer trips between organizations and greater predictability in resolution timeframes.

What should companies do now?

1. Inform maritime-fishing sector workers that unemployment benefit procedures with ISM are now managed with systems integrated with SEPE, which can reduce resolution times.
2. Review internal procedures for managing leave and contract terminations to ensure that documentation sent to ISM is correctly completed, taking advantage of the greater efficiency of the new system.
3. Communicate to labor advisors or external managers working with maritime-fishing sector workers the existence of this agreement, so they can update their processing protocols with ISM.
4. Verify that worker data registered with ISM and SEPE is consistent, given that systems integration can reveal discrepancies in previous records that should be resolved proactively.
5. Consult directly with ISM any questions about the practical functioning of the new integrated system, especially in cases of workers with a history of benefits in both organizations.