All working women in Spain have the right to pregnancy leave. A right granted by Social Security and in which it is currently 16 weeks of paid leave for mothers and another 16 for fathers.
How to Live Aligned with there are many doubts that arise in this regard, we are going to solve the most common among new parents below. Issues such as where to process pregnancy leave, when it begins and how it should be managed.
The pregnancy leave
Generally, maternity leave begins at the same time the baby is born, however, it can be requested from the eighth month of pregnancy. Every day of pregnancy leave will be subtracted from the total 16 weeks granted by Social Security. However, it is very important to bear in mind that neither conventional sick leave nor leave due to risky pregnancy entails a reduction in maternity leave.
In other words, if during your pregnancy you have temporary disability leave, such as a cold, for example, your company has no right to reduce your maternity leave. In the same way, if you have a risky pregnancy and your doctor releases you, the consequent maternity leave will not be reduced and will start at the same time you give birth.
Other types of casualties
In addition to what is known as low maternity, which actually begins when the baby is born, there are other types of casualties that can occur during the development of pregnancy. These are the Differences between leave due to pregnancy and leave due to high-risk pregnancy.
- The pregnancy leave: Requested when the mother's work may cause damage to the baby's development or to herself. In this case, 100% of the salary is charged.
- Low risk pregnancy: In this case it is a temporary disability and is processed by the family doctor. For a risky pregnancy leave, the full salary is not charged, as is the case with any other sick leave. During the first 3 days nothing is charged, between days 4 and 21 60% is charged and from day 22 75% of the regulatory base is charged.
When can you request pregnancy leave?
The right to leave due to pregnancy working mothers have it for others, that is, those who are autonomous cannot enjoy this right, although they can enjoy maternity leave. If you are hired, you can request pregnancy leave while you are working or on vacation. However, if you are on leave or you are unemployed, you will not be able to access this leave.
As for when to request pregnancy leave, the law does not dictate anything exact about the specific date, but it does dictate that companies must adapt the job of pregnant women during the gestation period. They even have the obligation to transform your work obligations to adapt them to your needs. However, as this is something very relative, the most advisable thing is that it be your family doctor who determines and processes it for it to be effective.
There are even some tables created by the Spanish Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, which collect the weeks in which sIt is recommended to apply for pregnancy leave. These tables take into account the types of work that mothers do and how they can harm the baby and the mother herself. Based on these data, your doctor will be able to process your withdrawal whenever he or she deems it appropriate.
As a working woman you have your rights and whenever you have doubts about them you can contact the union delegate of your company, if there is one in it. If not, always you can find out about your rights in the collective agreement of your sector and through the different methods of communication with the different unions that currently exist.