Parental leave: How does it work for father and mother?

What is parental leave and how does it work?

The explanation comes from lawyer Dantas Rodrigues, in the column by Notícias ao Minuto "Complicated (un)work and taxes", on issues related to personal finances and taxes.

"Parental leave, paid through a subsidy, aims to ensure the right to exercise parenthood, ensuring that parents or godparents, in the case of Civil Godparenthood of a minor, do not see their income from work depleted. Therefore, during the period in which parents or godparents are enjoying parental leave, Social Security replaces the employer and proceeds to pay a subsidy: the parental allowance," begins by explaining.

There are some necessary requirements for parents to access this Social Security benefit, as well as different days and amounts they may benefit from. It will depend on the number of days they want to take advantage of, or if the leave is shared between the father and mother, or only for one of the two.  

About the requirements, the lawyer clarifies that it is necessary to be a beneficiary of the social security system, covered by one of the following regimes:

Employees, including domestic workers;  

Workers in the cultural sector under short-term employment contracts, when registered in the Registry of Professionals in the cultural sector;

Independent workers;

4. Voluntary social security:

5. Beneficiaries on pre-retirement, in a situation of reduced work provision;  

Beneficiaries who receive unemployment benefits;  

Beneficiaries who receive Disability Pension or Survivor's Pension while working and have recorded earnings in Social Security.

In addition, you must apply for the subsidy within six months from the first day you did not work, have six consecutive months with registered salaries and a regularized contributory situation.

How many days does parental leave entitle?

About the benefit period to which you are entitled, you can choose one of two options: 120 or 150 consecutive days.

In both cases, in the first 42 days, the mother enjoys an exclusive initial period of 42 days and the father an exclusive initial parental allowance of 7 days after birth and 21 days taken in periods of 7 days, within the 42-day period of the mother's exclusive leave. "The remaining days can be shared by the parents and, in the case of a 150-day leave, the last 30 days can be taken by only one parent or shared by both, and can be taken simultaneously and even accumulated with work," as stated by Dantas Rodrigues.

It is still possible to add 30 days to the license period, if parents choose to share the initial parental leave and enjoy, each exclusively (not at the same time), a period of 30 consecutive days or two periods of 15 consecutive days after the mandatory six weeks of the mother.

Regarding the amount of parental allowance, it can vary between 100% of the salary recorded in the six oldest months within the last 8 months, and 80%. "The situations in which the daily amount corresponds to 100% of the registered salary are those of 120 days of leave, or those of 150 days of shared parental leave," the lawyer concludes.  

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