The reduction of the working day by at least 50%, with a proportional reduction in salary, carried out by parents, guardians for the purpose of adoption or permanent foster carers, when both are working, or when there is only one parent in the case of single-parent families, for the direct, continuous and permanent care of a minor in their care affected by cancer (malignant tumours, melanomas or carcinomas) or by any other serious illness included in the list in the annex of Royal Decree 1148/2011, of 29 July, which requires long-term hospitalisation, during the time of hospitalisation and continuous treatment of the illness, is considered a protected situation.

On reaching legal age, if the cancer or serious illness, diagnosed before reaching the age of majority, persists and the need for hospitalisation, treatment and care continues, the financial benefit shall be maintained until the age of 23.

However, once the age of 18 has been reached, the benefit may be recognised until the originator reaches the age of 23 in cases of cancer or serious illness diagnosed before reaching the age of majority, provided that at the time of the application the requirements established in the previous sections are accredited, except for age.

Likewise, the financial benefit will be maintained until the originator reaches the age of 26 if, before reaching the age of 23, he/she can also prove a degree of disability equal to or greater than 65%.

Long-term hospitalisation is considered to be hospitalisation when, after diagnosis and hospitalisation for the serious illness, it is necessary to continue medical treatment or care at home.  

The accreditation of the suffering from cancer or another serious illness, as well as the need for hospitalisation and treatment, and of care during the same, will be carried out, even in cases in which the care and diagnosis has been carried out by private medical services, by means of a declaration from the doctor of the Public Health Service or health administrative body of the corresponding Autonomous Community. 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 said person 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 above, in cases where the guardian is a family member who, pursuant to civil legislation, may not adopt the minor.

When there is a relapse  due to cancer or a serious illness, a new hospital admission will not be necessary, although the need for continued medical treatment as well as direct, continuous and permanent care of the originator must be accredited through a new medical statement. by the parent, guardian or foster parent, spouse or domestic partner. 

The children or persons in permanent foster or adoptive care of the beneficiary provided that:

• They are under 18 years of age. However, once the age of 18 has been reached, the benefit may be recognised until the originator reaches the age of 23 in cases of cancer or serious illness diagnosed before reaching the age of majority, provided that at the time of the application the requirements are accredited.
• 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, guardians or foster parents.

Employed or self-employed persons 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 day 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.

• Within each family unit, both parents, guardians 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 mutual societies for social insurance established by the corresponding professional school.

In the case of single-parent families, this requirement must be met by the parent, guardian or foster carer.

However, in cases of annulment, separation, divorce or termination of the domestic partners constituted under the terms of article 221 of the revised text of the General Law on Social Security, as well as when a victim of gender violence is accredited, the right will be recognised in favour of the parent, guardian or foster carer who lives with the sick person, even if the other parent does not work, provided that the rest of the requirements are met.

This requirement shall be understood to be met in those cases where the parent, guardian or foster parent 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.
    
  • For those who are older than 21 but less than  26 years of age on the date when the reduction of working hours begins: 90 days of contributions within the 7 years immediately prior to said 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 and over on the date when the reduction in working hours begins: 180 days of contributions within the 7 years immediately prior to said 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.
  
  To this end, the payment request mechanism provided for in article  28.2 of Decree 2530/1970, of 20 August, will be applied 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. 
  

• 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.

Both workers and public employees who have been granted a reduction of the working day for the care, during hospitalisation and continuous treatment, of a dependent minor affected by cancer or another serious illness and who have had this reduction in working hours terminated because the child has reached the age of 18 before 1 January 2022, may reapply for a reduction in the working day provided that they still meet the requirements for this right and the child or person who has been subject to foster care for the purpose of adoption or permanent foster care has not yet reached the age of 23, and may maintain the reduction in working hours while the direct, continuous and permanent care of this person remains necessary until he or she reaches, at the latest, the age of 26.

If the sick person is married or in a domestic partner relationship, the spouse or common-law partner shall be entitled to the reduction in working hours, provided that he/she can prove that he/she qualifies as a beneficiary.

This reduction in working hours shall be considered a protected situation for the purposes of the care allowance for children affected by cancer or another serious illness.

• In cases where both parents, guardians or foster parents are entitled to the benefit, it shall only be granted to one of them.
  
• In cases of separation, divorce, annulment or termination of the domestic partner relationship constituted under the terms of article 221 of the revised text of the LGSS, the right will be recognised for the parent, guardian or foster carer with whom the sick person lives.
  
• Provided that both parents, guardians 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 subsidy is recognised for the other parent, guardian 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.
• When the sick person is of legal age and marries or enters into a domestic partner relationship, the spouse or domestic partner shall be entitled to the benefit, provided that he/she can prove that he/she is eligible and that the reduction in working hours was started before the corresponding parent, guardian or foster parent reached the age of 18.
• These previsions will not be applicable to civil servants, for whom the provisions of article 49.e) of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, approving the Consolidated Text of the Law on the Basic Statute for Civil Servants shall apply.
  

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 originator reaches the age of 23, as long as the cancer or serious illness persists, diagnosed before reaching the legal age.

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.

When the worker does not has the IT contingency covered in the scheme that must recognise the benefit (it is currently compulsory in all schemes except in the Special System for Self-Employed Agrarian Workers and members of cooperatives included in the Special Social Security Scheme for Self-Employed Workers or Freelancers), the BR will be made up of the contribution basis 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 BR 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 leave  due to birth and care of the minor, 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 and care 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, guardian or foster parent, all payments to the person who was initially granted the benefit will stop   for the person who had it when the recognition of the subsidy is made to the other parent, guardian or foster parent,
  

• When the beneficiary fully returns to work or resumes their working activity, ceasing the reduction in working hours whatever the cause that determines said cessation.
  
• When the need for direct, continuous and permanent care of the originator 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 said person.
  
• When either of the parents, guardians or domestic partners of the 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 originator still requires direct, continuous and permanent care.
  
• When the originator reaches the age of 18, except in cases where the benefit is extended to 23 or 26 years of age.
  
• By death of the originator.
  
• Due to the death of the beneficiary of the benefit.
  

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.

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 66 of Law 39/2015, dated 1 October, of the Common Administrative Procedure of the Public Administrations.

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 article 129.3 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, of the worker, pursuant to paragraph 3 of article 37.6 of the Workers' Statute Law, 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 previously been submitted to the  Social Security General Treasury.
  • 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 originator is suffering from cancer or another serious illness that requires long-term hospital admission and indicating the estimated duration of the admission and whether they require 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.
  
• Judicial or administrative decision granting permanent foster care or guardianship for the purpose of adoption or, where appropriate, guardianship of the minor.

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 case of single-parent families: Family record book in which a single parent is recorded or, in the event that the two are recorded, death certificate of one of these parents, or court ruling declaring family abandonment by one of the parents.
  
• If the other parent, guardian or foster parent does not belong to the Social Security system, they must provide, if 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 State Scheme 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, GUARDIAN OR FOSTER PARENT IS AN OFFICIAL, within the scope of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, which approves the consolidated text of the Law 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.