The Ministry of Labor intends to proceed with an expansion of what it called “mourning permit”, agreed this Tuesday with the majority unions CCOO and UGT, with the rejection of the employers’ associations. This involves a 10-day extension of paid leave in the event of the death of loved ones, as well as the creation of new leave for palliative care and euthanasia, for which the Government must now seek parliamentary support.
The text agreed by Labor and the unions, to which elDiario.es had access, is a royal decree-law which contains several measures to extend the rights of paid absence of workers in the event of the death of a member of their close family or when they receive palliative care.
“What currently exists is anachronistic,” said Secretary of State for Labor Joaquín Pérez Rey on Tuesday, referring to the current two days of leave for death, extendable to four when travel is necessary.
“No one can go to work two days after seeing a child die. No one can work under normal conditions when someone spends their last days in the hospital. Work relations must also be human relations,” added Pérez Rey.
Here are some keys to the proposal:
1) How many days would it take for a mother to die?
Ten days of leave paid by the company. The text provides for “ten working days for mourning in the event of the death of the spouse, partner or relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity”, which are the parents, children, grandparents and brothers and sisters of the worker.
Note that the proposed text expressly specifies that the days are “working days”, although the Supreme Court recently confirmed that days off from work must be enjoyed on working days and not calendar days, I do not wish to specify otherwise.
“The exercise of the right to days of mourning in the event of death may be divided into continuous or discontinuous days, within a period of four weeks, from the triggering event,” specifies the bill.
What about the death of a father-in-law?
For relatives “up to the second degree of affinity”, such as parents-in-law, brothers-in-law and sons-in-law, the current two days of leave are maintained, extendable to four days in the event of travel.
What is palliative care leave?
A new work permit lasting “a maximum of 15 working days is created for the care of a spouse, common-law partner or relatives up to the second degree by consanguinity, who require palliative care”. Again, for the parents, children, siblings and grandparents of the person who works.
The exercise of this permit “can be divided, at the discretion of the worker, into two fractions, over a period of three months”, specifies the text agreed between Labor and the unions, “from the first day on which the worker benefits from said permit and until the date of the death of the person who requires this care”.
This authorization can only be used once for the person who requires palliative care.
Furthermore, the text specifies that this new permit may be used without prejudice to the worker’s right to also benefit from already existing permits “for hospitalization or surgical intervention without hospitalization” “if the patient received palliative care under a home care regime”.
Modification of the day for palliative care?
The legal text also recognizes two other rights allowing the working day to be modified to provide palliative care to loved ones.
On the one hand, the right to request adaptation of the duration and distribution of the working day (recognized in article 34.8 of the Workers’ Statute) is incorporated when there are care needs for “children over twelve years of age, the spouse or de facto partner, relatives by consanguinity up to the second degree of the worker, as well as other dependent persons when, in the latter case, they live in the same household” who “are in palliative care, as long as hospital than at home.
On the other hand, the right to a reduction in the working day is also recognized – “with a proportional reduction in salary between at least one eighth and at most half the duration” – for “anyone who must provide direct care to the spouse or de facto partner, or to a family member up to the second degree of consanguinity and affinity, including the blood relative of the de facto partner” who is in palliative care, both in hospital and at home. “In this case, it is emphasized that they are included in the kinship up to the second degree of affinity.
What is the euthanasia permit?
A day off is recognized for the euthanasia of loved ones. Concretely, the agreed text recognizes the paid absence for the day “during which the health professional self-administers or practices aid in dying under the terms established by Organic Law 3/2021 of March 24, regulating euthanasia, provided that the worker has been designated to accompany the patient at that time”.
When should this legal change be approved?
The Ministry of Labor has not yet specified when it intends to approve this legal modification, for which it has chosen as an instrument a royal decree-law, which must be justified by reasons of urgency. The text must go through the necessary mandatory procedures until it is approved by the Government in the Council of Ministers.
Royal decrees-laws come into force on time when they are published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), but the government must find the necessary parliamentary support to validate them in Congress, otherwise they fall into disuse.
Despite the parliamentary weakness of the Executive, the Ministry of Labor expresses confidence in its ability to provide the necessary support to extend these permits.
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