Law that extended the parental bereavement period was enacted a year ago.
The parental bereavement law gives parents who have lost a child five days to request psychological help in health centers, which must be ensured at the end of this period.
The deadline came into effect on January 4, 2022, written into Law No. 1/2022, which amended Article 251 of the Labor Code and extended parental bereavement from five to 20 days .
Today is precisely a year and a half since the law was promulgated by the President of the Republic, ending a fight that began with a petition of the Association of Parents and Friends of Children with Cancer, Acreditar. To TSF, Margarida Cruz, the president of this association, recognizes the importance of extending mourning, but regrets that there is still a deadline that allows those who lost a direct relative only five days after the death to request psychological support in a health center.
The president of Acreditar doesn’t know why such a short deadline was set in a situation where people are not in a position to deal with bureaucratic aspects and since the law was changed she has called attention to the meaninglessness of this requirement, but so far nothing has changed.
Contacted by TSF, Eduardo Carquejo, president of the board of the northern delegation of the Order of Psychologists, and director of the Psychology service at São João hospital in Porto, confirms and agrees with Margarida Cruz’s concern.