General Scheme

Any reduction in working hours along with the proportional reduction in salary experienced by the parents, adoptive parents or foster parents in pre-adoptive and permanent foster care, in those cases where both parents work, in order to care for their dependent minors suffering from cancer or another serious illness included on the list provided in the appendix of RD 1148/2011, of 29 July, which requires long-term hospital admission in order to provide direct, continuous and permanent care, during the period of hospitalisation and the ongoing treatment of the illness, shall be deemed a protected situation.

Long-term hospital admission is also deemed to include the ongoing medical treatment or care of the minor at their home address after diagnosis and hospitalisation for a serious illness. 

The certification of a protected situation, even for cases where the care and diagnosis has been carried out by private medical services, shall consist of a certified statement from the|SPS or administrative healthcare body of the corresponding Autonomous Region responsible for the care of the minor. Furthermore, in cases where the diagnosis and treatment of the cancer or serious illness of the minor has been carried out by private medical services, a certified statement of the doctor from the centre responsible for the care of the minor shall also be required.

The appointment of an individual as guardian of the minor shall also be deemed a protected situation under the same terms established for case of adoption and fostering, in cases where the guardian is a family member who, pursuant to civil legislation, may not adopt the minor.

In cases of a relapse of the minor as a result of the cancer or serious illness, another hospital admission will not be required if a new medical statement is provided to certify, after the diagnosis and hospitalisation, the need for continued medical treatment and for direct, continuous and permanent care of the minor by the parent, adoptive parent or foster parent. 

The dependent children or foster children of the beneficiary as long as:

• They are under 18 years of age.
• They suffer from cancer or another serious illness that requires long-term hospital admission.
• And, in addition, they require direct, continuous and permanent care from their parents, adoptive parents or foster parents.

Employed or self-employed and equivalent workers shall be beneficiaries, irrespective of their gender, as long as:

• They reduce their working hours by at least 50%. The allowance shall be recognised in proportion to the percentage of reduction experienced by working persons.
  
  In order to receive the benefit, the percentage of the reduction in working hours shall be calculated in relation to working hours of a full time equivalent employee working at the same work centre and for the same company, in a similar or identical job, and shall not take into account any other reductions to working hours that employed workers may be entitled to for reasons of the legal guardianship of minors, to care for family members or for any other reason.
  
  Part-time workers shall not be entitled to the benefit in cases where the effective duration of their part time working hours is less than or equal to 25% of the working hours of a comparable full-time employee. Notwithstanding, if the worker is employed under two or more part time contracts, the effective working hours of both contracts shall be added together to determine whether the hours exceed the aforementioned limit.
  

• They are affiliated and have active contributor status in a Social Security Scheme.
  
  Within each family unit, both parents, adoptive parents or foster parents must demonstrate that they are affiliated and registered in some Social Security public scheme, or only one of them, if the other, on the basis of the exercise of their professional activity is incorporated on a mandatory basis in the social welfare mutual established by the corresponding professional school. 
  
  This requirement shall be understood to be met in those cases where the parent, adoptive or foster, of the minor, who is not a beneficiary of the benefit, has a special agreement with the Social Security System for carrying out its work in a country with which there is no international Social Security instrument.
  
  
• They can prove the required contribution period in each case:
   
  • For those who are younger than 21 years of age on the date when the reduction in working hours begins: contribution period is not required.
    
  • If they are 21 years of age and are under 26 on the date they start the day reduction in working hours: 90 days contributed within 7 years immediately prior to that date. Alternatively, the aforementioned requirement shall be deemed fulfilled in cases of those who can prove 180 days of contributions throughout their working life, prior to the date in question.
    
  • For those who are 26 years of age on the date when the reduction in working hours begins: 180 days within 7 years immediately prior to that date. Alternatively, the aforementioned requirement shall be deemed fulfilled in cases of those who can prove 360 days of contributions throughout their working life, prior to the date in question.

In cases of part-time workers, the time period immediately prior to the date when the reduction in working hours begins, in which the minimum required contributions must have been made, shall increase in inverse proportion to the period between the working hours worked by the worker in question and the usual working hours for the corresponding job and exclusively in relation to times during said period where less than normal working were worked.

• They are up to date with all contribution payments for which the applicants are directly responsible, even if the benefit is recognised as being a consequence of a reciprocal contribution calculation in the scheme for workers employed by another person.
  
  For these purposes, the payment demand mechanism provided for in |art. 28.2 of Decree 2530/1970, passed on 20 August, will be applicable for whatever Social Security system to which the applicant may belong at the time of applying for the benefit or in the system said benefit is applied for. 
  

• In case of multiple employment, the benefit will be granted in proportion to the percentage of the reduction to the total sum of the working hours from all the different jobs.
  
• In cases of multiple activity, the workers may receive the benefit under each of the Social Security schemes in which they meet the established requirements.
  
  If workers can prove they can meet the conditions required in order to access the benefit under just one of the schemes, a single benefit will be granted and only the contributions paid in to said scheme will be counted.
  
  If the requirements are not met for any of the schemes, all of the contributions made into these schemes will be added up, as long as they do not overlap, and the worker will gain entitlement to the benefit in the scheme in which they have most certified days of contributions.

• In cases where both parents, adoptive parents or foster parents are entitled to the benefit, it shall only be granted to one of them.
  
  
• In cases where the parents are legally separated, divorced or where their marriage is annulled, if both parents, adoptive parents or foster parents were entitled to receive the benefit, it may be granted to one party by mutual agreement. In the absence of an agreement or an express judicial provision, the beneficiary shall be deemed as the person who has custody of the minor and, in cases of shared custody, to the first party to apply. The provisions in this section shall also apply in cases of the break-up of a family unit based on a similar emotional relationship to that of a marriage.
  
  
• Provided that both parents, adoptive parents or foster parents meet the stipulated requirements, and where agreed between both parents and the respective company or companies, the payment of the benefit may alternate between both parents in periods of no less than one month. In such cases, the payment of the benefit will cease when a new benefit is granted to the other parent, adoptive parent or foster parent.
  
  The agreement to alternate in the enjoyment of the benefit may be requested at any time throughout the duration of the benefit.

The entitlement starts on the day on which the reduction of working hours commences, provided that the application is submitted within three months of that date. For applications submitted outside said period, the benefit will be backdated for a maximum term of three months.

The benefit shall be granted for an initial period of one month and can be extended by subsequent periods of two months whilst the minor still requires direct, continuous and permanent care, as certified by a statement from the Public Health Service or the administrative healthcare body of the corresponding Autonomous Community (or from the INGESA in Ceuta and Melilla), with the entitlement expiring on the date when the minor reaches the age of 18.

When the direct, continuous and permanent care of the minor is required for a period of less than two months, as accredited in the corresponding medical statement, the benefit shall be granted for the specific period stated within said statement.

• This benefit is a daily accrual benefit, equivalent to 100% of the regulatory base(RB) established for the benefit for temporary disability (TD) arising from occupational contingencies or, where applicable, arising from common contingencies for those who have not opted for professional contingency coverage, and in proportion with the reduction of working hours.

In cases where the worker is not covered TD contingencies under the scheme that is required to grant the benefit, the RB shall be the contribution base for common contingencies.

The RB shall be changed or updated at the same time as the corresponding contribution bases.

• In cases of part-time employed workers, the daily RB of the benefit shall be the result of dividing the sum of the accredited contribution bases at the company during the 3 months immediately prior to the date when the reduction in working hours begins, by the number of calendar days within said period. The corresponding percentage of reduction in working hours shall be applied to that base.
  
  If the worker has been working for the company for less than 12 months, the contribution base will be the result of dividing the sum of the accredited contribution base by the number of calendar days in said period of time.
  
• In cases of multiple employment, for the purposes of the RB, the contribution bases for each of the companies or activities shall be taken into account, whilst applying the maximum limit established for contribution purposes.

Payment of the benefit will be suspended:

• In situations of TD, during periods of maternity or paternity leave, and in cases of risk during pregnancy and risk during breastfeeding, and generally in situations when the reduction of working hours for minors affected by cancer or other serious illnesses coincides with any other grounds for the suspension of the employment relationship.
  
  When, for health reasons, the person taking care of the child cannot tend to the or is in a situation of TD or in a period of compulsory maternity leave due to the birth of a new child, a new subsidy may be granted to the other parent, adoptive or foster parent, provided they meet the requirements for the subsidy.
  
• In cases where the payment of the benefit is switched to the other parent, adoptive parent or foster parent, all payments to the person who was initially granted the benefit will stop on the date when the benefit is granted to the other parent, adoptive parent or foster parent.  
  

• When the beneficiary fully returns to work or resumes his/her working activity, ceasing the reduction of working hours to care for a minor, for whatever reason.
  
• When the need for direct, continuous and permanent care of the minor ceases, due to an improvement in the condition of the minor or due to medical discharge as a result of recovery, according to the report of the Public Health Service (SPS) or the administrative healthcare body of the corresponding autonomous region responsible for the care of the minor.
  
• When either of the parents, adoptive parents or foster parents of the minor leaves their employment, notwithstanding their entitlement to receive a new benefit when they return to work, if the necessary requirements are fulfilled and provided that the minor still requires direct, continuous and permanent care.
  
• When the minor turns 18 years of age.
  
• In the event of the death of the minor.
  
• In the event of the death of the beneficiary.
  

The beneficiaries are required to inform the corresponding managing body or mutual society of any circumstance that may imply the suspension or termination of the entitlement to the benefit.

The managing body or mutual society may, at any time, carry out actions deemed necessary in order to confirm that beneficiaries continue to meet the benefit eligibility requirements.

The benefit shall be processed by:

• The corresponding management entity or Social Security mutual society partner, which covers the worker's occupational contingencies.
• In cases where the worker is not covered for professional contingencies, the managing entity or mutual society covering the temporary disability due to common contingencies shall be responsible for processing the benefit.
• In cases where the worker has not opted for temporary disability coverage under the Social Security Scheme under which he or she is entitled to the financial benefit, the corresponding body of the Social Security shall be responsible for processing the benefit.
  

The payment of the benefit will be made by the corresponding managing entity or mutual society with effect from the benefit start date, in monthly payments in arrears.

Responsibility for the payment shall remain in force until the expiry date of the association document or until expiry of the formalised cover. If, upon expiry, there is a change in relation to the entity providing coverage for the professional or common contingencies, the new entity will undertake responsibility for the payment for the following 12 month period, and for subsequent payments in cases where the coverage continues.

In cases of part-time employed workers, the benefit is accrued on a daily basis, although payments are made on monthly basis.

[The employer is required to pay only the contributions they are responsible for, which include Social Security contributions and any other joint collection items that may be applicable].

This benefit is exempt from income tax (IRPF).

Benefit application:

The procedure for granting the benefit starts with an application submitted by the worker to the relevant provincial directorate of the corresponding managing body in the province where the worker resides, or to the corresponding Social Security mutual society partner.

All applications must be submitted on the approved forms issued by the corresponding managing body or Social Security mutual society partner, and must contain the data stipulated in article 70 of Law 30/1992, dated 26 November, on the legal framework for public administrations and the common administrative procedure (BOE 27/11).

The information or, where applicable, the documents indicated on the appropriate forms must be submitted together with the application. 

Resolution and notification:

After reviewing the data and documentation submitted and confirming all the necessary eligibility requirements, events and conditions, the corresponding managing entity or mutual society will issue an express resolution and notify the applicant as to the granting or refusal of the benefit within a period of 30 days from receipt of the application.

If, after the 30 day period referred to in the previous paragraph, no express resolution or notification has been issued, the application shall be deemed rejected pursuant to section 2 of the 25th additional provision of the consolidated text of the LGSS.

Express or presumed resolutions issued by the managing body or mutual society may be appealed pursuant to article 71 of Law 36/2011, dated 10th October, governing social jurisdiction. 

(The original must be submitted together with a copy for authentication or with an already authenticated photocopy, except for identity documents, where showing the original will suffice).

IN ALL CASES:

• Proof of identity of the interested parties (also of the originator if they are 14 years of age) by means of the following valid documentation:
  • Spanish Citizens: National Identity Document (DNI).
  • Foreign Citizens: Passport or, where appropriate, valid identity document in their country and NIE (Foreigner Identification Number) required by the AEAT for payments.
• Certificate from the company including details of the worker's contribution bases for occupational contingencies, or for common contingencies where applicable, for the month prior to the date when the reduction of working hours began and, where applicable, the amounts of irregular payments paid during the year prior to said date.
• Certificate from the company regarding the start date of the reduction of working hours, pursuant to paragraph 3 of article 37.5 of the Workers' Statue, indicating the percentage of said reduction of working hours. 
  
• Documentation relating to contributions:
  • For Artists and Bullfighting Professionals: Declaration of activities and receipts for performances that have not been submitted to theTGSS.
  • Workers responsible for paying contributions: Receipts for payments from the last 2 months.
• Permanent domestic employees are required to provide a statement from the person in charge of the family home, confirm the extent of the effective reduction of working hours.
  
• Report from a Public Health Service doctor stating that the minor is suffering from cancer or another serious illness that requires long-term hospital admission and indicating the estimated duration of the admission and whether the minor requires on-going treatment for the illness, outside of hospital, as well as the estimated duration of said treatment.
  
• Family record book or, if not available, certificate of registration of the child in the Civil Registry or court ruling granting the adoption.
  
• Legal or administrative resolution approving a pre-adoption or permanent fostering arrangement or granting guardianship of the minor, where applicable.

IN CASES OF WORKERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PAYMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS ONLY (self-employed, freelance or similar workers, and intermittent domestic workers):

• Such workers are required to provide a statement expressly indicating the percentage of the reduction to their professional activities, in relation a 40 hour working week.
  

OTHER DOCUMENTS:

• In the event that the parents do not live together, and if there is no agreement about whom should receive the benefit, documentation proving who has custody or is caring for the minor.
  
• 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 one of the parents.
  
• If the other parent does not belong to the Social Security System, they must provide, as applicable:
  
  
  • Certificate issued by the personnel department of their place of work stating that said parent is performing a job included in the Passive Classes System or
  • Certificate from the Professional Association to which they belong, if it is a professional activity.
• ONLY FOR SELF-EMPLOYED AND FREELANCE WORKERS: a statement regarding the situation of the activity relating to the portion of the working day reduced by the self-employed worker.
  
• ONLY IF THE OTHER PARENT IS AN OFFICIAL, within the scope of Law 7/2007, of 12 April, of The Basic Statute of Public Employees (EBEP): a certificate issued by the personnel unit of your work centre, indicating whether the EBEP is applicable to you, whether you benefit from the permit provided for in Article 49(e) of that law, as well as the administrative situation in which it is located.