Although it has been announced throughout the year, the new permit to extend the paternity leave of men to 16 weeks in the CAV has not yet entered into force. The Basque Government is working on this and it appears that it will be published in the official gazette this month, but the draft of that decree has conditions that were not foreseen until now. A small letter, I mean.

The representatives of the Basque Government announced that the paternity leave to be produced had to be supplemented by eight weeks plus the eight weeks already covered by the Spanish Social Security and that all Basque parents could benefit from this reduction of the same duration as mothers.

But ElDiario.es has published that the draft decree establishes a series of restrictions on this general framework. For example, private sector workers would not be able to leave for 16 weeks if they took children to day care or hired a household employee. This precision does not exist in the regulations that regulate the casualties of public officials of the CAPV.

If the draft is turned into law, the measure aimed at parents taking on greater responsibilities in caring for newborn babies could therefore be discouraged.

In any case, the Basque Government has pointed out that the draft decree can still be amended. The Minister for Employment and Social Policies, Beatriz Artolazabal, pointed out that the new conditions contained in the draft aim to promote the relationship between parents and their children from day one. Regarding the different conditions for public officials and private sector staff to be on the same level, Artolazabal explained that they are “different plans”.

The Counsellor has specified that the regulation for officials falls within the competence of the Department of Public Service of the Basque Government and the other staff of the department he runs.