The spokesperson for the Canarian Coalition in the Congress of Deputies, Cristina Valido, demanded this Thursday from the Government of Spain to "not further delay the effective implementation" of the paid work permit for those public employees who must care for a child affected by cancer or another serious illness. The nationalist deputy's claim is due to "the considerable delay" suffered by the processing of a decree from the state government despite the approval in Congress of a non-legal proposition presented by the Canarian Coalition on May 30, 2024.
In that meeting of the Youth and Childhood Commission in the Congress of Deputies, it was approved, at the proposal of Cristina Valido, to urge the Government of Spain to develop a regulatory framework to regulate this work permit with clear and objective criteria for its granting and avoiding generic justifications to equate its regulation to that established for employees and self-employed workers also established by royal decree in 2011.
In this way, according to the parliamentary initiative assumed by the Youth and Childhood Commission of the Congress after the proposal of the Canarian Coalition, it is intended to regulate the right to set the percentage of reduction of working hours based on the needs of the public employee to care for the minor child affected by cancer or some other type of serious illness.
"We have to be able to respond in a timely manner to this demand," explains Cristina Valido, "because the non-legal proposition has been approved since May, but we see that the Government of Spain is not being as agile as this social demand requires." In this context, the nationalist spokesperson has stressed that it is also necessary to regulate the deadline for resolving applications for work permits for public sector workers to equate it to the benefit regulated in 2011 for private sector employees and self-employed workers.
"It is essential that the granting of the work permit is based on the needs alleged by the parent, as well as on individualized medical criteria, and not on other arbitrary or political criteria because they generate inequality" in the labor treatment between different types of workers, Valido emphasizes.
The spokesperson for the Canarian Coalition in Congress also places as a priority issue the simplification of administrative procedures and the request for additional documentation that affects the privacy of the minor, as well as the approval of the accumulation of working days and for the automatic renewal of the work permit in cases of chronic diseases. "Another important factor, as stated in the non-legal proposition that was approved in May 2024," recalls Valido, "is that the working hours of the other parent should not be taken into account for the granting of the permit due to illness of their children."
"In the Canarian Coalition, we want to promote a humanized management of these permits, recognizing the importance of supporting caregivers in their work and avoiding their social stigmatization, considering the mental health of the public employee and the emotional impact of long-term care of a son or daughter with a serious illness," explains her spokesperson in Congress to also demand that additional economic losses be compensated, such as variable remuneration or professional promotion opportunities, as well as declaring it exempt from personal income tax, as in the benefit of the right to care for a child with a serious illness already regulated in the 2011 decree.
Likewise, Cristina Valido demands a greater level of transparency on the data of granting and denial of paid work permits for the care of a son or daughter with a serious illness, as does the Ministry of Social Security. Also, the nationalist spokesperson in Congress insists on the implementation of a public body that supervises the management of the work permit, as does the Subdirectorate of Collaborating Entities of Social Security, which depends on the Director General of Social Security Organization.
"Because none of these measures have begun to be implemented, so mothers and fathers of children with serious illnesses continue to be forced to resort to legal channels with the economic and time cost that this entails," says Valido.
