New rules have been introduced for exceptional aid for families
Labor and Employment Law Alert Portugal
It has been published in the official gazette the Law no. 16/2021, of 7 April, which introduces amendments to and updates the rules regarding exceptional aid for families outside the periods of school interruption, provided for in Decree-Law no. 8-B/2021, of 22 January and in Decree-Law no. 10-A/2020, of March 13.
According to these new rules, employees are entitled to exceptional aid for families, outside the periods of school interruption, to provide unavoidable assistance to a child or other dependent, due to class suspensions and non-teaching presence activities determined by the public health authorities or by the Government, if the employees fall in one of the following cases:
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Single-parent household with a child or other dependent under 12 years old – the parent may choose to do telework or have the exceptional aid, even if teleworking is possible;
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Families with at least one child or dependent under 12 years old – one of the parents may choose to have the exceptional aid, even if teleworking is possible and even if the other parent is teleworking;
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Families with children or dependents with disabilities or chronic illness – one of the parents may choose to have the exceptional aid, even if teleworking is possible and even if the other parent is teleworking.
Only one parent at a time can benefit from this aid and it is only received once, although both parents can share it.
If one of the parents is teleworking, the other parent does not lose the right to the aid.
It is not possible to cumulate this aid with other extraordinary or exceptional aids entered into to face the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rules regarding the amount of the aid, the procedure to access it that shall be complied with by the employee and employer, as well as the legal framework on Social Security remain unchanged (for further info on this click here).
These rules enter into from 8 Abril, 2021, onwards.
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