Social Security

Management

• The management of the benefit is the responsibility of the National Institute of the Social Security (INSS) or the Social Marine Institute (ISM), if the workers are included in the scope of application of the Special Scheme for Sea Workers. 

• The competent bodies of each Autonomous Community, and the Provincial Directorates of the Institute for Social Services and the Elderly (IMSERSO) in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla are responsible for determining the degree of disability.  

• The competent Public Institution that deals with the protection of minors is responsible for determining difficulties in social and family integration for children over 6 years of age in cases of adoption, foster care and guardianship.

• Being considered as a large family will be subject to the provisions of Law 40/2003, of 18 November, on the Protection of Large Families.

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Payment

• The Managing Body will pay the benefit directly to each beneficiary, as appropriate, during the periods actually taken by the mother and the father, with payment made for completed periods.

• Special subsidies for multiple births, adoption and foster care will be paid in a lump sum at the end of the 6 weeks after delivery or after the court ruling granting adoption, respectively.

• At the time of paying the benefit, the following amounts will be deducted from its total amount:
  • The amount increases to the total sum of the applicable worker contributions to Social Security, unemployment and occupational training, where appropriate, to be paid into the TGSS . The employer is required to pay only the contributions to Social Security and any other joint collection concepts that may be required.

• The withholding for IRPF .

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Payment reductions

Applied to the contributions of workers or worker-members or working partners in cooperatives, or self-employed workers, who have been replaced during periods of leave for maternity, adoption, foster care, paternity, risk during pregnancy and risk during breastfeeding, through subsidised interim contracts entered into with unemployed persons, as described in Royal Decree Law 11/1998, of 4 September, shall be:

• An allowance of 100% of the employer's Social Security contributions, including those for work-related accidents and diseases and the employer's share in joint contributions for workers in a Social Security scheme for workers employed by others.

• An allowance of 100% of the contribution that results from applying to the appropriate minimum or fixed base the compulsory contribution established for workers in the Social Security scheme for self-employed workers.

This allowance only applies during the time that the suspended activity and the temporary substitution contract coincide and, in all cases, up to the maximum limit of the period of suspension.

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Recognition of the right to benefits

Benefit application:

• The procedure for granting the entitlement begins upon request by the interested party, by application to the competent Provincial Directorate of the Managing Body, according to the scheme they are included in.

• The application must be made on the official forms and contain the information and circumstances set out in |art.  70 of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, on the Legal Framework for Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedures, together with the necessary documents, except for the documents that have already been provided for the processing of paternity benefits for the same children or foster children.

• Specifically, it must contain the reason for the application, the start date and the expected distribution of the leave period for each of the beneficiaries, as well as the data related to the company or companies, in the case of workers employed by another person.

• The application to interrupt the benefit in the case of premature birth and cases in which the newborn must remain in hospital following the birth, must be made by the mother or the other parent, depending on who is or will be the beneficiary, thereby having to prove the interruption of the suspension of the employment contract or activity, as well as the hospitalization of the child, by means of the relevant document from the hospital.
• The Managing Body may start, on its own initiative, the procedure for granting the benefit, when it has the necessary information to do so, and must inform the interested party of this situation within a period of 15 days counting from the day after the triggering event.

Resolution and notification:

The Provincial Director of the Managing Body where the application has been submitted will make an express decision and inform the interested party within a period of 30 days, counting from the receipt of the application of the interested party.

Nevertheless, the benefit may be granted by provisional decision using the most recent contribution base included in the system's corporate databases. If the contribution base from the month immediately prior to the start of leave was different to that used in the provisional decision, the benefit will be recalculated and a final decision issued. If the base has not changed, the provisional decision will become final 3 months after being issued.

As an exception, in the event that the activity in the company had been started in the month prior to the triggering event, a certificate must be provided to the company stating the relevant contribution base, which will be the base that is taken into account for calculation purposes. The procedure will be the same, when the worker has a part-time contract and it is not possible to calculate the regulatory base, or in the cases where the companies have been authorised by the Treasury General of the Social Security TGSS  to defer the payment of contributions until after the following month.

Expiry:

The entitlement to the benefit expires 5 years from the day after the date of the triggering event, notwithstanding the fact that the conditions that gave rise to the entitlement occurred within 3 months prior to the date on which the corresponding application was submitted. 

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Maternity Report

• The public health service doctor who cares for the pregnant worker will issue a maternity report certifying, as appropriate:

• Probable date of birth, when the worker begins leave prior to the birth.
• Date of the birth.

• The maternity report consists of an original and three copies:

• The original shall be delivered to the worker together with a copy so that they can submit it to the company within a period of 7 days (if the worker is an employee).
• Another copy shall be sent to the Health Services Inspectorate or equivalent body of the relevant Public Health Service.
• The final copy shall be kept by the doctor.

• When the worker is in a situation of temporary disability that started before the birth, the doctor must simultaneously provide them with a medical discharge report due to them starting the situation of maternity.
  
  
• The Public Health Service will send the maternity report and the medical discharge report to the Managing Body within a period of 5 calendar days after they are issued.

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Documents which must accompany the application

(Original together with a copy for authentification or with an already authentificated photocopy, except for identity documents, where showing the original will suffice)

IN ALL CASES



1. Proof of the identity of the interested parties by means of the following valid documentation:
   • Spanish citizens: National Identity Document (DNI).
   • Foreign citizens: Passport or, where appropriate, identity document in force in their country and NIE (Foreigner Identification Number) required by the AEAT for payments.
     
     
2. Company certificate stating the worker's status and other details related to the start date of the maternity or paternity leave.
   
   
3. Documentation relating to contributions:
   • For Artists and Bullfighting Professionals: Declaration of activities and receipts for performances that have not previously been submitted to the TGSS.
   • Self-Employed Workers, Commercial Representatives, Special Agricultural Scheme and Domestic Employees: Receipts for contribution payments for the last 2 months.
   
   
4. Declaration of activity status, only for workers in the Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (except for those included in the Special Scheme for Self-Employed Agricultural Workers and Financially Dependent Workers).
   
   
   IN THE EVENT OF MATERNITY due to birth
   
   
5. “Certificate of Maternity Leave” or “Maternity Report” required by the relevant Public Health Service (SPS).
   
   
6. Libro de Familia (booklet containing family details) or child registration certificate from the Registry Office. If the leave started before the birth, these documents should be submitted after the child has been registered.
   
   
7. If the mother exercises the right to choose the option in favour of the other parent, fill in page |No. 4 of the application.
   
   If the following circumstances arise she must provide:
   • If the mother is not part of the Social Security system: Certificate required by the personnel department of her workplace, stating whether Law 7/2007, of 12 April, on the EBEP is applicable, as well as her current administrative status and granted period of maternity leave.
   • When the biological mother carries out a professional activity that does not give rise to affiliation with the Social Security system: Receipt or certificate proving that there is no entitlement to benefits in their private social security scheme or, where appropriate, proof that the interested party is not included in an alternative social security mutual society.
     
     
8. In the event of the death of the mother: The mother's death certificate.
   
   
   IN THE EVENT OF MATERNITY due to adoption, foster care or guardianship:
   
   
9. The court ruling that granted the adoption or guardianship, or the administrative decision or court ruling that granted foster care, whether it is permanent, pre-adoptive or simple, as long as, in the latter case, it lasts for a period no less than one year, even if the foster care is provisional. In the event that simple foster care is deemed valid for communication to the body of the Autonomous Communities that regulate it.
   
   
10. In the event of adoption, foster care or guardianship of disabled minors over six years old: Certificate from the IMSERSO or competent body of the respective Autonomous Community, stating that the adopted or fostered child has a degree of disability greater than or equal to 33%, or from the competent Public Body that deals with the protection of minors, stating that due to their personal circumstances or coming from abroad they have particular difficulties with social or family integration.
    
    
11. Where appropriate, family record book or child registration certificate from the Civil Registry.
    
    
12. If both parents are entitled to leave, they must fill out page 4 of this application, stating the start date of the leave or the waiver of this entitlement in favour of the other parent.
    
    IN THE EVENT OF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION
    
    
13. When a prior trip by the parents to the country of origin of the adopted child is necessary, the documentation issued by the competent body of the Autonomous Community will be provided, containing the justification for the start of the procedures for adoption or foster care.
    
    
14. Adoption granted in a foreign country and registered at a Spanish consular office: Proof of registration or the document authorising the granting of adoption and its registration.
    
    
15. Adoption and guardianship for the purpose of adoption, granted in a foreign country and not registered in Spain:
    • Administrative decision or court ruling proving that the adoption or guardianship was granted.
    • Visa for the minor issued by the Spanish consular office.
    • Certificate, decision or declaration of suitability of the person adopting the child, issued by the competent Spanish authority.
    • Document that shows that the applicant has started the procedures leading to formalising the adoption in Spain or, where appropriate, registration of the adoption at the Registry Office.
    
    
    IN THE EVENT OF PATERNITY due to birth:
    
    
16. Family record book or child registration certificate(s) from the Civil Registry.
    
    
    IN THE EVENT OF PATERNITY due to adoption or foster care:
    
    
17. Family record book or child registration certificate from the Civil Registry, the court ruling that granted adoption, or the administrative decision or court ruling that granted foster care.
    
    
    OTHER DOCUMENTATION:
    
    
    In the event of disability/dependence:
    
    
18. Of the applicants: Certificate of disability proving a degree of disability greater than or equal to 33%, signed before the competent body of the Autonomous Community (Article 28.1 of RD  1335/2005, of 11 November).
    
    
19. Of the child or adopted minor:
    • Specific assessment report issued by the competent bodies of the Autonomous Community, or proof that it has been requested.
    • In the case of new-born children this can be replaced by a medical report from the public hospital or medical report from the SPS, which contains a record of the disability or of its possible existence.
      
20. In the case of large families: Certificate proving large family status or proof of having requested one.
    
    
21. In the case of single-parent families: Family record book in which a single parent is recorded or, in the event that two parents are recorded, death certificate of one of these parents, or court ruling declaring family abandonment by the other parent.
    
    
22. In the event of hospitalization of the new-born child: Report from the public hospital stating the date the new-born was admitted to hospital, and the date of hospital discharge when it occurs. If the birth took place at a private centre, a doctor's report from the SPS must be provided.
    
    
23. In cases where the leave is taken under a part-time working day schedule:
    • For employees, a document certifying the employer-worker agreement on taking maternity/paternity leave to birth, adoption or foster care, under a part-time working day schedule.
    • For self-employed workers, a declaration of status.
    
    
24. Permanent, intermittent workers: Document proving this status for the births, adoptions and fostering that have occurred during the period between seasons for when they resume their activity.
    
    
25. Temporarily disabled workers who receive direct payments from Mutual Societies: Certificate from the Mutual Society proving this status.

This documentation can be submitted at any of the Social Security Support and Information Centres.

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