An employee in Spain can be absent from work because of an urgent family situation that requires their immediate presence, and is paid for those hours as if they had been worked, according to El Español's Alicante edition. The right is set out in section 37.9 of article 37 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores, as an absence for force majeure (causa de fuerza mayor).
The paid time under this heading is equivalent to four days a year. The employer must pay for the hours of absence up to that equivalent, so within that limit the employee loses no pay. The rule refers to paying hours equal to four days, so it covers only the time actually needed for the absence. It does not necessarily mean four full working days.
The grounds are an illness or accident affecting a relative or a person living with the employee, where the employee's immediate presence is needed. The provision does not cover every family need. It is meant only for urgent situations that call for immediate action.
The employee may have to prove the reason for the absence. The text of the rule refers to "en su caso, acreditación del motivo de ausencia" (where applicable, proof of the reason for absence). The detailed conditions are set by the collective agreement (convenio colectivo) or, if there is none, by an agreement between the company and the employees' legal representatives.
Article 37 also provides for other leave. One is five days of paid leave for serious illness or accident, hospitalisation, or surgery without hospitalisation that requires rest at home, affecting certain relatives or people living with the employee. Another is two days when a spouse, cohabiting partner (pareja de hecho) or a relative up to the second degree by blood or marriage dies. If the employee has to travel, that leave is extended by two days.
El Español's headline says the right is now in force. However, the date it came into force, any legal change behind it, which relatives are covered, how the employer must be notified and which documents are accepted are not stated.
