Reduction of working hours for legal guardianship of a minor

Workers who, for reasons of legal guardianship, have in their direct care a child under twelve years of age, or a disabled person who does not perform a paid activity, will be entitled to a reduction of the daily working day, with a proportional reduction of the salary between at least one eighth and a maximum of half of the duration of that day. But can the reduction be requested intermittently?

Any worker registered in the General Social Security System, i.e., who works as an employee, can request a reduction of the working day for legal guardianship.

Remember that this reduction (which also implies a proportional reduction in salary) must be between one-eighth and one-half of the working day and that the following workers may exercise this right:

• Those who have in their direct care a minor under 12 years of age or a person with physical, mental, or sensory disability who does not perform a remunerated activity.
• Those who must take direct care of a relative up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity who, due to age, accident or illness, is unable to look after himself/herself and is not gainfully employed.

The employee, except in cases of force majeure, must give the employer 15 days’ notice (or as determined in the collective bargaining agreement), specifying the date on which the reduction in working hours will begin and end.

Can the reduction be requested intermittently?

Example:

A worker requests the reduction in the first place, for a period of two years, while the child is 4 and 5 years old. When the child turns 6 years old, the worker ends his first reduction period, returning to work full time.

When the child reaches the age of 8, can another reduction period be requested for another two years until the child reaches the age of 10, i.e. while the child is 8 and 9 years old, returning the worker to full time work?

Can the reduction be requested again when he/she turns 11 until he/she turns 12, i.e. for one last year only? Or on the contrary, it is only possible to request a single period of reduction of working hours for dependent children and it must be continuous, for example, for only four years and once this period is over, there is no longer the right to request any further period, even if the child is under 12 years of age.

A situation like the example can occur when one of the parents works only temporarily and temporarily, so that during certain periods in which both work, one of them, the one who has the permanent and permanent job, has the need to request the reduction object of the consultation, a need that disappears when the other spouse stops working.

Well, the answer is affirmative it is possible to request the reduction of the working day for legal guardianship of a minor under 12 years of age as many times as you want, therefore, it is not limited to requesting it only once, or twice or more, nor to requesting it continuously or in advance. It is possible to request a reduction, that this one lasts as long as it is, and to recover the normal duration of the provision of services, and then, to request another reduction again.

The requirement is in any case that there is a minor under twelve years of age or a person with disability in charge who does not perform a remunerated activity, which justifies such request, and what limits the possibility of requesting it again is that this requirement is no longer met, but as long as there is a minor or a person with disability in charge, there will be this right to the reduction of the working day that can be requested as many times as desired.

In addition, this reduction of working hours can be requested without initially establishing how long it will last. It is then possible to leave this situation when the beneficiary worker decides to do so, and the reduction can be resumed, as long as there is still a child or person with a disability that justifies it. In short, this right will only end when the child reaches the age of 12, or when the disabled person is no longer in the care of the employee.

In relation to the question of whether the other parent works only on a temporary and temporary basis, it must be said that, as provided for in the last paragraph of Article 37.6 of the Labor Law, this right to reduce the working day: “constitutes an individual right of the workers, men or women. However, if two or more workers of the same company generate this right by the same causal subject, the employer may limit its simultaneous exercise for justified reasons of operation of the company”.

Therefore, it is of no relevance whether the other parent works or not, or does so with a temporary or temporary employment relationship, since the worker can exercise the right to the reduction regardless of what he/she does or the situation of the other parent, and this with the only exception that both parents work for the same company, in which case and request the reduction based on the same child or disabled person, since only in this case, the simultaneous exercise of this right may be limited, and this will only be in cases where there are justified reasons.

But if both parents work in different companies, there will be no impact whatsoever on the reduction requested by one and/or the reduction requested by the other parent. They are totally independent rights.

You can contact this professional office for any questions or clarification you may have in this regard.

For more information, please contact Labor consulting.