This is how maternity and paternity leaves remain for the self-employed in 2020

Like employees, the self-employed with children have the right to request paternity or maternity leave. Moreover, the Government is working so that equality is not only between the different Social Security Regimes, but also between men and women. 2020 started with one of the most anticipated news for self-employed and salaried workers, especially for those who have just had a child or plan to have one in the coming months.

The Royal Decree Law on Labor Equality approved at the beginning of last year incorporated 49 measures to equalize treatment and opportunities in employment and occupation between men and women. And that happens by guaranteeing that in the care of newborn children -or adapted children- there are no distinctions based on gender. Although it is true that they still exist, in the aforementioned measures it is planned to extend paternity leave to 16 weeks, thus equating it to what women already have.

With the entry into force of the new regulations, since the beginning of 2020, self-employed and salaried parents went from having five weeks of leave to being able to enjoy 12. Finally, in 2021, the desired equality will be achieved by extending the duration of sick leave for paternity four more weeks, until 16.

Until that moment arrives, mothers will be able to enjoy one more month of benefit than fathers. For the rest, the amounts, requirements and procedures to opt for maternity or paternity leave are very similar. This is how the benefits remain during this year 2020.

General requirements to qualify for the benefit

How much should I pay to access the permit?

As with other benefits such as Permanent Disability, the minimum contribution period to access maternity leave varies depending on the age of the self-employed person in question.

Those who are between 21 and 26 years old, must have a minimum contribution period of 90 days -during the seven years prior to the start of the withdrawal- or a total of 180 days from their first registration in the RETA.

On the other hand, those over 26 years of age will have to have at least 180 days of contributions during the seven years prior to the start of the withdrawal, or a total of 360 days. Those who are under 21 years of age do not require a minimum contribution period.

As for paternity leave, in this case there are no differences in the contribution time required depending on the age of the father. For all self-employed workers, the required period will be 180 days in the last seven years, or 360 days in the entire career.

Duration of casualties

As has already been explained, leave for both mothers and fathers will start from the moment of hospitalization (even before, if so requested) and must be notified to the Administration within a maximum period of 15 days from the moment of childbirth.

For its part, the maternity subsidy entitles the self-employed to a benefit of 16 uninterrupted weeks. These will start counting from the moment the rest period is requested. In addition, the mother may transfer part of this time to the father so that he can enjoy it. Of course, the first month and a half (six weeks) after childbirth must be used by the mother.

For their part, from January 1, 2020, self-employed parents can already benefit from 12 weeks of benefit (seven more than a year ago). In this case, the period cannot be transferred to the mother.

How to request the benefit?

To apply for paternity leave, the self-employed person will have to present the following documents to Social Security:

After sending the documents, Social Security will notify the interested party in the following days. He will begin to receive the income from the month following the one in which the benefit was recognized.

Amount of benefit

Like temporary disability, benefits for paternity or maternity will be 100% of the regulatory base, which will be calculated from the six months prior to the time of discharge. Therefore, to calculate this base, it will be necessary to divide the amount for which they contributed during this time by 180. If, for example, a self-employed worker who contributes for the minimum has just had a child and requests their respective leave, to To calculate your benefit you will need to multiply 944.40 x 6, which would result in 5,666.40. And then divide the amount by 180, which would give 31.48 euros.

Therefore, 31.48 euros would be, in this case, the amount of daily benefit that the self-employed could opt for during the time they are on sick leave. But, this is not the only help that can be received by self-employed fathers and mothers who have had -or fostered- a child. Self-employed workers can also opt for a series of bonuses that came into force with the Law of Urgent Reforms for Self-Employment.

Bonuses for maternity and paternity

In addition to having the right to enjoy the same period of maternity and paternity leave as employed workers, self-employed fathers and mothers also have the bonuses introduced by the Law of Urgent Reforms for Self-Employment that cover maternity, paternity , adoption, guardianship, foster care and risk during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Thus, up to 100% of the fee is discounted during the period determined for each case.

In addition, women who rejoin after having ceased their activity due to maternity, adoption, guardianship, foster care or guardianship, will only pay Social Security a fee of 60 euros per month during the 12 months after rejoining if they contribute for the minimum base . If they do it for higher bases, the bonus will be 80% of the fee for common contingencies.

Therefore, and since 2018, self-employed fathers and mothers have at their disposal three bonuses applicable to three different assumptions to reduce, or exempt them from paying their fee to the RETA (Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers).

-Bonus of 100% of the self-employed quota for common contingencies for a period of 12 months to those workers included in the RETA who are affected by any of these assumptions:

-Bonus of 100% of the self-employed quota during rest periods for maternity, paternity, adoption, custody for the purpose of adoption, foster care, risk during pregnancy or risk during breastfeeding, provided that this period has a duration of, at least one month.

-Bonus for the self-employed who return to work in certain cases.