As of the publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic, in the coming days a new regulation modifying Decree-Law 56 on the Maternity of Workers and the Responsibility of Families will come into force, which extends the period for the enjoyment of the period of social benefit up to 15 months of life of the minor.
Virginia Marlen García Reyes, general director of the National Social Security Institute (Inass), explained to the press that, to date, compensation is only paid until the child reaches 12 months of age, and the following three months were authorized unpaid leave.
He added that this decision influences the modification of six articles of Decree-Law 56 itself.
He recalled that this rule had already been previously modified by Decree-Law 71, which regulates the protection for commissioning mothers and fathers – those who for different reasons cannot conceive and resort to supportive pregnancy – and for the supportive surrogate, tempered with the updating of the Family Code.
WHAT ARE THESE MODIFICATIONS?
García Reyes explained that, with the implementation of this rule, articles 1, 8, 24, 40, 42 and 44 of Decree-Law 56 are modified, as modified by Decree-Law 71 of 2023.
Regarding the objective of this reform, he commented that article 1 establishes again the regulations relating to the maternity of the worker and the responsibility of families regarding:
- Ensure and facilitate medical care for working women during pregnancy, pre- and post-natal rest, breastfeeding and, for both parents, the care of their daughters and sons.
- Regulate monetary, economic and social benefits, from 34 weeks of pregnancy, or 32 if the pregnancy is multiple, and until the child reaches the first 15 months of life.
- Extend the exercise of the right to protection established for the care of minors to other people who work, as a consequence of multiparenthood, adoptive, assisted and socio-affective affiliation, according to the types and sources of affiliation provided for in the Family Code.
- Provide a monetary benefit to the mother or father with daughters or sons under 17 years of age, who are sick, or to one of the working grandparents, who is responsible for their care.
- Grant the right to enjoy social benefits to one of the working grandparents caring for the minor, whose mother is a student, to help guarantee continuity of studies and their autonomy.
- Provide differentiated treatment when the minor requires special attention.
Regarding the other modified provisions, the General Director of Inass specified that article 8 regulates that the social benefit is that which is granted to the mother, father or one of the maternal or paternal grandparents who is responsible for the care of the minor, at the expiration of the prenatal leave and until the child reaches 15 months of age.
Likewise, article 24 states that the father may determine that the rights to care for the minor be exercised by the grandparents, sister or brother, maternal or paternal or other family member, workers in the state or non-state sector, until the minor arrives at the 15 months of life.
In order to guarantee the care and medical treatment of the minor until he or she is 15 months old, article 40 establishes the right of the mother or father incorporated into work, as the case may be, to enjoy one paid hour per day. for breastfeeding and one day of paid leave each month to attend the pediatric care center.
Article 42 establishes that, when the minor reaches the first 15 months of life, if in response to his care, the mother or father – as the case may be – cannot return to work, they have the right to enjoy the accumulated vacations, and once concluded, if you do not return to work, the employer may terminate the employment relationship, in accordance with the provisions of current legislation.
Finally, article 44 provides that the mother or father of a minor, who has an illness proven by a medical certificate and summary of medical history, physical, mental or sensory disability, covered by a medical opinion, that requires special attention, if If you are a worker in the state sector, you can take unpaid leave from 15 months of age until the child is five years old.
The above, García Reyes explained, does not mean that the family is left economically unprotected due to the impossibility of working due to caring for the minor, since they can benefit from the complementary social assistance regime, based on the complement of the core’s income that guarantees the sustenance of the home.
BACKGROUND
This measure had been previously announced by the State authorities and the Government of the Island, in a clear example of protecting what is most precious to each family: the infants.
García Reyes explained that this modification corresponds to the attention to demographic dynamics, which has had a permanent check by the highest leadership of the country, and since its approval, measures have been taken to address and stimulate fertility, which have been implemented gradually.
He added that these measures are analyzed each year for their feasibility in the process of preparing the economy plan and the State budget each year, even with the complex economic situation that the country is going through, aggravated by the intensification of the blockade.
A RECORD OF PREVIOUS MODIFICATIONS
On December 14, 2021, Decree-Law 56 on Workers’ Maternity and Family Responsibility came into force, which increased and equalized guarantees for working mothers in the state and non-state sectors.
In addition, it included the payment of 100% of the worker’s salary, if she had a risk pregnancy, and the elimination of the requirement of having worked 75 days to be entitled to receive economic and social benefits.
On the other hand, the entry into force of Decree-Law 71, in 2023, extended the exercise of the right to protection for the care of the daughter or son to other people who work.
It also extended the exercise of the right to protection established for the care of the daughter or son, to people who work, as a consequence of multiparenthood, adoptive, assisted and socio-affective affiliation, according to the types and sources of affiliation provided for in the Code. of Families.
