CHILD CARE LEAVE: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE APPLYING

When the baby is born, the working mother can enjoy a maternity leave of 16 weeks and the father of five weeks (a time that the Government has announced that it will gradually expand until it equals the mother's permission in 2021). But after these weeks, some parents decide request a leave to continue taking care of your child.

If this is your case, today we want to tell you everything you need to consider when requesting it, as well as the necessary requirements for it. We also remind you that leave of absence for child care is a right contained in article 46.3 of the Workers Statute.

What is leave of absence for child care?

A child's leave of absence is a right that all workers have to stop working for a limited time to take care of their child under three years. The company cannot deny this right.

During the duration of the leave, the relationship between the company and the worker would be suspended. That is, you stop being obliged to serve your company, and therefore you also stop charging. But you retain the right to join when your leave ends.

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Requirements to request a child care leave

Leave of absence for the care of a child It can be requested by any mother or father employed by someone else who has a biological child under three years of age. In case of adoption or foster care, the age that the child must have is not specified.

Although in most cases this leave is requested by women, it is a right that men can also request. In fact, in recent years the number of parents who decide to stop working temporarily to take care of their children has increased.

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But it is important to keep in mind that if both parents work for the same company and both request this right, the employer could limit his simultaneous exercise for justified reasons of operation of the company.

How do I request a leave of absence?

If you meet the above requirements, you can request a voluntary leave for your child's care. Experts advise doing this by following these guidelines:

For reasons of legal certainty, it is advised do it in writing and not verbally.
Request it with at least 15 days in advance, although there are some collective agreements that ask for a longer period of notice or some other specific requirement to take into account.
There is no official model to communicate the request for a leave, although there are collective agreements published in the BOE that include some models in its annexes. Also on the UGT website or the OCU you can find models to download.
When requesting your leave you have to print two copies, and the company will sign the corresponding receipt.
In the writing you have to record the duration of the leave period, indicating the start date and the end date of the same, as well as the name of the child.

How long can an leave last?

The leave of absence for each child has a maximum duration of three years (and the minimum you decide), and as we have said above, it can only be requested until the child reaches this age.

You can request the leave from the moment of the birth of the child, or throughout the first three years of the child's life, taking into account that the later it is requested, the shorter it will last.

In cases of adoption or foster care, the term of three years would begin to be counted from the date of the judicial resolution or sentence establishing such adoption or foster care.

In the Statute of the Worker we can read the following:

"Workers will be entitled to a period of leave of no more than three years to attend the care of each child, both when it is by nature, as well as by adoption, or in cases of foster care, both permanent and pre-adaptive, even if they are provisional, from the date of birth or, where appropriate, of the judicial or administrative decision. "

Other aspects that must be taken into account regarding the duration and way of taking leave of absence are:

If desired, you can enjoy the leave in a fractional way, that is, for short intervals of time.
When the period of leave you have requested ends (as long as the child is under three years old), the leave may be extended for another period of time. For example, after four months of leave, you extend another four.
While you are enjoying a leave for child care, you can request another to take care of a new child, although in that case, the beginning of the second leave would end the first one.

What rights do I have while my leave lasts?

Excess time will be computable for seniority purposes.
While the leave lasts, you have the right to attend professional training courses whose participation you must be called by the employer, especially on the occasion of your reinstatement.
You have the right to reservation of your job during the first year of leave. In cases of large family of general category, the job reservation will be extended up to a maximum of 15 months, and when it is a special category, up to a maximum of 18 months.

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After these deadlines, the job reservation will be referred to a position in the same professional group or equivalent category.

In no case, the company may refuse you to re-enter its workforce after having enjoyed the leave for childcare. If this happened, you could sue the company and it would be considered a null dismissal.

This is stated in a February 2013 ruling of the Supreme Court:

"The leave for child care guarantees the worker the right to reserve the job in the company. We are not faced with a potential or expectant right that depends on the existence of vacancies in the company, but before an exercise right in the company. moment when the surplus worker requests his reinstatement to the company ... (...) "

Other aspects you should keep in mind

Before you start enjoying the leave, the company must settle contigor the salary corresponding to what you worked for that month, as well as the proportional part of your vacation, you pay extra ...
When you request the leave, the company must process your withdrawal to Social Security within 15 days. That is to say, the company stops contributing for you while your leave lasts.

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If you get sick while your leave lasts, you will not be able to charge low for this reason. You can't collect unemployment either.
It is advisable to notify the company, at least 15 days in advance, of the end of the leave and the date of incorporation into the company.
You should also know that when you join after your leave, you will not be entitled to vacations or extra payments that have been included within the period in which you have been out of work. That is, these rights begin to be counted from the first day of your return to work.

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