Parents may get paid leave to look after kids

It's one of the proposals included in a draft conciliation plan that's being worked on by several different Administrations and City Councils. The Government also wants to involve the Central Administration, which can approve both the text and other measures.

Municipal surplus

The plan addresses the issue of releasing 700 million euros of budget surplus from Local Councils to finance the plan.

The draft indicates that health measures and new monitor ratios to ensure the safety of children and young people will raise the costs of conciliation programs. It states that families could “benefit from financial compensation or from tax or tariff relief mechanisms,” and says the Government must contribute funds to help support families or companies.

The plan also proposes hiring companies that specialise in summer programs and creating a pool of volunteer teachers, which would include students who are studying Teaching, Social Education, Pedagogy and higher grade FP.

The Government says it’s committed to providing Sports & Leisure Education and cleaning services and the Social Affairs Department and Consells will put mechanisms in place to subsidise families to help pay for summer schools.

In line with the document negotiated by the Administrations, PSIB, Podemos and Més presented a letter in the Parliament on Wednesday, asking for the urgent processing of a non-law proposal which urges the Government to facilitate flexible working hours and adjustments without the loss of wages for workers.

Urgent measures

The proposal also appeals to the Government to approve a conciliation plan to help families and Institutions, which is something the President of the Government, Francina Armengol has requested several times during meetings with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez and Regional Presidents.

The regulation of teleworking after the State of Emergency is lifted has been requested with protocols that establish objective indices of productivity and the same rights, remunerations and professional promotion for those who work from home and those who don’t.

It also proposes that conciliation be shared between fathers and mothers so that both parents can take time off to care for children and Left-wing parties are calling some of the City Council surplus money be used to pay for that and other programs.