As of the next entry into force of modifications in the regulations that regulate the issue, authorities from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security announced that in the country the period of postnatal licenses will be extended up to 15 months of life of the minor.
In a press conference with national media, Virginia Marlene García Reyes, general director of the National Social Security Institute, stated that changes are derived from the regulations in six of its articles in relation to the Decree Law 56 on Maternity of Workers and the responsibility of families.
The directive indicated that the points that will present transformations are specifically Articles 1, 8, 24, 40, 42 and 44, with the aim of addressing population dynamics and encouraging fertility.
According to their explanation, the main strengths of the modifications are to regulate monetary benefits from 34 weeks of gestation (32 in cases of multiple pregnancies) until the child’s arrival in the first 15 months of life, while extending the exercise of the right to protection established for other workers contemplated in concepts such as multiparenthood and the various types of affiliation contemplated by the Family Code.
He noted that from the moment of publication of the regulations in the Official Gazette of the Republic, working families with infants under 12 months of age will be able to benefit from these benefits, with strict compliance both for the state sector and for the new forms of management. non-state.
He pointed out that the inclusion of principles such as giving greater weight to family responsibility in these issues opens the door to advantages such as social benefits to working grandparents in charge of the minor when the mother is a student, with the aim of guaranteeing continuity of studies.
When the minor arrives at 15 months, he clarified, if due to their care the mother or father cannot return to work, they have the right to enjoy their accumulated vacations and, once concluded, if they do not return, the employer may terminate the employment relationship in accordance with the provisions of current legislation.
The mother or father of a minor who has an illness proven by a medical certificate and summary of medical history, a physical, mental or sensory disability, covered by a medical opinion, that requires special attention, if he or she is a worker in the state sector, may qualify. to an unpaid leave from 15 months of age of the minor until he or she turns 5 years of age, he added.
