If I miss work to take care of a pet, do I lose pay?
Missing work to attend to a pet may or may not result in loss of pay. The answer is not straightforward, as we may be facing a legislative conflict. Understand better in this article.
Can I take justified and paid time off work to take care of a pet?
Could absences from work to take care of a pet be justified and without loss of pay? "With the creation of the norm applied to companion animals since 2014, we may be facing a legislative conflict," explains DECO PROteste quoted by Notícias ao Minuto. [Source in Portuguese: Notícias ao Minuto]
Firstly, it should be noted that Portuguese law provides several justifications for missing work without losing pay. However, in the case of needing to miss work to take care of a sick pet, there may be a conflict of rules.
For example, absences from work to provide assistance to children are usually justified and paid, as well as in the case of workers with the status of informal caregiver with special protection under the law, but these are the only situations - except for exceptions - with this right.
If you need to miss work to assist another member of the household, even with a valid reason, you may lose your pay. The same applies with a pet.
However, DECO PROteste explains that with the creation of the regulation applied to pets in 2014, we are facing a legislative conflict. This is because the law states that "whoever, having the duty to keep, watch over or assist a pet, abandons it, thereby endangering its feeding and the provision of care it is due, is punished with imprisonment for up to six months or with a fine of up to 60 days", as stated in the news piece.
So, even if a pet owner has to miss work to provide assistance to their pet, "the absences would not be justified nor the paid days off, because it is not provided for in the law in the case of animals." "However, if the employer so chooses, they can justify absences to care for a pet. Nevertheless, it may result in a loss of pay," it further reads.
Therefore, the entity highlights that it is up to the legislator to clarify this situation, as when making advances in one area, they should not forget about the implications that the measure brings and should make the necessary adjustments.
As for the fact that there are still no justified and paid absences for the care of a domestic animal, there is currently a bill submitted by the only representative of PAN, Inês de Sousa Real, which aims to amend the Labor Code and the General Law of Public Employment, to approve the mentioned regime.
The proposal had already been presented in the last term and suggests that the worker may be granted a justified and paid absence on a workday due to the death of a pet registered in their name, and two days per year to provide assistance to the animal in case of illness or accident.
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