More than a million students are returning to school for a new academic year starting this Thursday. Did you know that parents can take a leave from work to visit their child’s school? There are provisions for this in the Labor Code.
“Did you know that working parents can take up to four hours off per quarter, per minor child, to visit the school and learn about the educational situation?” reads a post shared by the Authority for Working Conditions (ACT) on Instagram.
According to the ACT, “these absences are justified and do not result in any loss of compensation.”
This is stated in article 249 of the Labor Code, as a justified absence is considered when “motivated by a visit to an educational establishment by the person responsible for the education of a minor because of the minor’s educational situation, for the strictly necessary time, up to four hours per quarter, per child.”
What absences are considered justified?
Absences can be justified or unjustified. Besides those mentioned above, the Labor Code stipulates that the following are also considered justified absences:
- Absence for 15 consecutive days for marriage;
- Absence due to the death of a spouse, relative, or in-law, under article 251;
- Absence for taking an exam at an educational institution, under article 91;
- Absence due to inability to work caused by factors not attributable to the worker, such as following a medical prescription after using medically assisted procreation techniques, illness, accident, or fulfillment of a legal obligation;
- Absence for providing urgent and essential assistance to a child, grandchild, or member of the worker’s household, under articles 49, 50, or 252, respectively;
- Absence for accompanying a pregnant woman to a hospital unit outside the island of residence for childbirth;
- Absence due to perinatal mourning, under article 38-A;
- Absence of a worker elected to a collective representation structure of workers, under article 409;
- Absence of a candidate for public office, according to the corresponding electoral law;
- Absence authorized or approved by the employer;
- Absence considered as such by law.
Absence for assistance to a household member
Another situation provided by law is absence for assistance to a household member:
“The worker has the right to be absent from work for up to 15 days a year to provide urgent and essential assistance, in the event of illness or accident, to a spouse or person living in a domestic partnership or common economy with the worker, a relative, or in-law in the direct ascending line or at the 2nd degree of the collateral line,” according to the law.
Furthermore, this right is “also guaranteed to the caregiving worker who is recognized as having the status of a non-primary informal caregiver, in case of illness or accident of the cared-for person, as defined in the applicable legislation.”
