Two Bills Would Fund Secap Training Agency With 0.5% IESS Employer Contribution

The Bills

Two bills filed by ADN (Acción Democrática Nacional) legislators are attempting to restore dedicated funding for Secap — Ecuador's Servicio Ecuatoriano de Capacitación Profesional, the national professional training agency:

• November 25, 2025 — Manuel Blacio
• January 28, 2026 — Nuvia Vega

Both proposals center on a 0.5% employer contribution to payroll being redirected from IESS (social security) to Secap.

How It Would Work

Under the Vega bill, IESS would act as the collection intermediary: "actuará como agente de retención y recaudación y transferirá mensualmente" — it will act as withholding and collection agent and transfer funds to Secap monthly.

Practically: employers' 0.5% IESS payroll contribution (or an equivalent new one) gets earmarked for Secap and passed through.

The Backstory

Secap lost its dedicated funding in 2015. Labor Minister Harold Burbano told media Secap has been operating "sin presupuesto" — without a budget — due to lacking the "0,5% del aporte al IESS" (0.5% of the IESS contribution) since then.

Historically, Secap received USD 100 to 120 million annually from this employer-linked contribution.

The Critique

Labor economist Patricia Borja called the minister's statements "imprecisas" — imprecise — arguing they created confusion about whether the 0.5% represents a reduction in IESS contributions or a new add-on for employers. The answer matters, because IESS funds pensions, healthcare, and disability benefits — a real reduction in IESS funding has real downstream effects.

What This Means for Expats

• If you employ anyone in Ecuador (a nanny, a cleaner, an employee at your Ecuadorian business), you already pay an employer IESS contribution as part of their payroll. Watch this bill, because the net payroll-tax math could shift.
• If you're in Ecuador on IESS voluntary contributions (a common path for expats who aren't eligible for other healthcare coverage), this bill is being framed as employer-side — it should not directly affect voluntary affiliates.
• If you run an Ecuadorian business, the bill would likely be budget-neutral on your side if it's a strict redirect. But if it becomes a new top-up contribution, that's a real 0.5% payroll tax increase.
• Neither bill has passed yet. Status: both are in assembly committee review.

Borja's critique is the key thing to watch. If this ends up being a redirect away from IESS, there will be downstream effects on IESS pension and health financing — and that's a bigger conversation than Secap's budget alone.

Source: Primicias