Social Security

Beneficiaries / Requirements

The non-contributory maternity benefit will be given to females employees or self-employed workers who, in the case of a birth, meet all the requirements for receiving the maternity benefit except the required contribution period.

In the event that workers are responsible for paying contributions, being up-to-date with Social Security contributions will be a fundamental requirement for the granting and payment of benefits.

For these purposes, the payment request mechanism provided for in |art. 28.2 of Decree 2530/1970, of 20 August will be applicable, irrespective of the Social Security scheme that the interested party was a part of when accessing the benefit or in which the interested party has gained entitlement.

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Financial Benefit / Amount

The financial benefit consists of a subsidy, the daily amount of which is equal to 100% of the daily IPREM   in force at any given time, with the following exceptions:

• If the daily regulatory base, equal to the established base for |TD benefits arising from common contingencies, is less than this amount, then this base shall be used.

• For part-time workers, if the daily regulatory base resulting from dividing the total sum of the certified contribution bases during the year prior to the triggering event by 365, is less than this amount, then this base shall be used.

• The benefit may be granted by provisional decision from the INSS , using the previous contribution base included in the system's corporate databases, insofar as it does not include the contribution base for common contingencies from the month prior to the start of leave or time off, at which time, the final decision will be made and the corresponding benefit will be recalculated.

The regulatory base will be adjusted in the following circumstances:

• When there is an increase contribution base as a result of an increase in wages, arising from legal provision, collective agreement or court ruling, which will have its financial effects backdated to the date before the start of the maternity leave. In such a case, if the resulting regulatory base is greater than the IPREM in force at that time, then the IPREM will be used to calculate the amount of the benefit.

• In the cases when the previous contribution base included in the system's databases has been used to calculate the benefit and, subsequently, it is verified that this is not the same as the contribution base for common contingencies for the month prior to the start of leave or time off.

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Acquisition of a right to benefits

There will be entitlement to the benefit as of the date of birth.

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Duration

• The duration of the benefit for the worker will be 42 days counting from the date of birth.


• This will be increased by 14 calendar days in following cases:


• Birth of a child into a large family or a family which, as a result of the birth, acquires this status.
• Birth of a child into a single-parent family.
• Multiple birth.
• When the mother or child has a degree of disability greater than or equal to 65%.
  
  There is just one increase in duration, with no accumulation when two or more of the abovementioned circumstances occur simultaneously.
  
  The consideration of large families shall be subject to the provisions of Law 40/2003, of 18 November, on the protection of large families.
  
  A single-parent family is a family that comprises a single parent living with the born child and who represents the only provider for the family.
  
  Multiple birth is understood to be when the number of children born is greater than or equal to two.


• In cases where the child dies or the delivery takes place after more than 180 days of gestation, the benefit will not be reduced, even if the conditions set forth in article 30 of the Civil Code for acquiring legal personality are not met.
  
  
• In the cases of premature birth and the hospitalization of newborns, the duration of the benefit will not be increased and there will not be any interruption in its payment.

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Maternity, Temporary Disability and Contract Termination

The provisions for contributory maternity benefit relating to maternity, temporary disability and contract termination, will be applicable to the non-contributory maternity benefit, as long as the situations set forth therein are the same for all types of benefits.

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Expiry

The entitlement to the benefit will expire due to:

• The elapsing of the established period of duration.

• The death of the beneficiary.

• The beneficiary being granted a permanent disability pension.

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Refusal, Cancellation and Suspension of Entitlement

The entitlement to receive the benefit may be refused, cancelled or suspended:

• If the beneficiary has acted fraudulently in order to obtain or keep the benefit.

• If the beneficiary works as an employee or self-employed worker while receiving the benefit.

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Management and Payment

• The benefit will be managed directly by the INSS or the ISM, if the workers are included in the Special Scheme for Sea Workers.
  
  
• The payment will be made directly by the Managing Body, without there being any management collaboration formulas among companies, and for due periods.
  
  
• At the time of paying the benefit, the following amounts will be deducted from its total amount:

• The worker contribution, since the obligation to make contributions remains, the amount of which will be calculated on top of the contribution base from the previous month; if this base is less than the minimum contribution base of the professional category of the worker, then the latter will be used.
• The withholding for IRPF.

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Recognition of the right to benefits

Benefit application:

• The procedure for granting the entitlement begins upon request by the female worker, by application to the Provincial Directorate of the competent 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 of November, on the Legal Framework for Public Administration and Common Administrative Procedure, along with the necessary documents.

• 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.

• Notwithstanding the foregoing, the benefit may be granted by provisional decision from the INSS , using the previous contribution base included in the system's corporate databases, insofar as it does not include the contribution base for common contingencies from the month prior to the start of leave or time off, at which time, the final decision will be made and the corresponding benefit will be recalculated.

As an exception, a certificate must be provided to the company stating the relevant contribution base, which will be the base that is taken into account when calculating the benefit, in the following cases:

• When work was started in the company in the same month or in the month prior to the triggering event.
• When the worker is hired on a part-time basis and it is not possible to determine the regulatory base.
• In the cases where the companies have been authorised by the TGSS  to change the payment of contributions at a later date.
  

Expiry:

The entitlement to the benefit expires 5 years from the date after the day on which the triggering event occurred. 

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