Tuesday, January 2, 2024
The Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, recently announced that he plans to make certain changes to the childcare permit. One of these modifications is related to the eight-week parenting leave, which was approved last summer and will extend paid paternity leave.
Since 2019, the Government unified the previous maternity and paternity benefits into the so-called birth and child care benefit. This aid covers mothers and fathers expenses incurred due to the birth, adoption, foster care or custody for adoption purposes of children under six years of age. In 2021, the duration of this leave was equal for both parents, reaching a period of 16 weeks.
What are the modifications
Each father and mother will have up to eight weeks off for parenting, to be used before the children turn eight years old. In addition, they can choose the period in different ways: in full, by days or by weeks, both one parent and the other. What will not be allowed is for one of them to consolidate this permission. In addition, the minister explained that the leave will be paid, at least for the first four weeks.
The other measure is that paid paternity leave will be extended from 16 to 20 weeks to all parents who have a child, adopt it or foster it. Already in 2021 this permit was extended to 4 months.
When will it come into force?
These measures have not yet been brought to the Council of Ministers nor, therefore, to Congress, so the exact date of entry into force is still up in the air. As Minister Bustinduy explained, the idea is for it to be ready “before the summer”, so it is expected to come into force in August 2024.
How to request paternity leave
As explained by Social Security on its website, there are two ways to request paternity leave, online and also in person.
Online application
If you have a digital certificate or username and password in Cl@ve, you can request it through the Your Social Security portal (https://sede-tu.seg-social.gob.es/). This portal can also be accessed from the Social Security Electronic Headquarters, by clicking on access with a digital certificate or username and password, and in both cases it will direct you to the Your Social Security portal for authentication. You will only have to fill in the information and attach the corresponding documentation. This portal also allows you to carry out a simulation of this benefit that anticipates the approximate amount to be received and the duration of the leave based on the estimated date of birth.
If you do not have prior identification methods, you can use the platform for procedures without INSS digital certificate that you will find at this link.
Application by regular mail or in person
You can also download and fill out the application form you will find here and send it by ordinary mail to the Provincial Directorate of the INSS or the corresponding ISM, along with the rest of the documentation. In this link You can find the list of addresses.
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