The government plans to approve this Thursday a new paid work permit lasting “up to four days” for climate disaster situations, the Ministry of Labor informs elDiario.es. This is a new right to absence from work with 100% of the salary paid by the company which was promoted by Vice President Yolanda Díaz so that it is guaranteed in a stable way in the legislation in the event possible weather emergencies such as DANA in the Valencian Community, for which the Government has regulated extraordinary holidays.
The decree that the Council of Ministers intends to approve this Thursday, with more aid to alleviate the disaster in the Valencian Community, as announced by Pedro Sánchez this Wednesday, also includes new long-term labor rights, with a view to future climate emergencies.
First of all, this new work permit will be integrated into article 37.3 of the Workers’ Statute, which regulates paid leave such as five days in case of serious illness or hospitalization of family members, as well as 15 days in the event of marriage, among others.
Concretely, “up to four days” of paid leave are recognized for situations in which it is not possible to go to work due to travel restrictions imposed by the authorities or due to a serious and imminent risk. , including situations derived from a disaster or adverse phenomenon. weather report.
In cases where teleworking is possible, the company can establish remote work, indicated to the Ministry of Díaz, respecting the obligations provided for by law and, in particular, the provision of means and equipment for the development of the activity of the company.
After four days, ERTE due to force majeure
After the four days of “climate permit”, as it is called in the Ministry of Labor, it can be extended until the circumstances which justified it disappear, even if companies will have the possibility of applying an ERTE for force majeure to stop paying wages and that it is the State which assumes the payment of benefits to workers.
At Work, they emphasize the importance of recognizing this right to absence in a stable manner, so that workers know in advance their rights in the face of a possible weather emergency.
The “climate permit” of a maximum duration of four days is a little less extensive in its justified absences than that regulated urgently by the DANA of the Valencian Community. Within this framework, several very specific situations have been regulated, such as the right to take time off work to search for missing relatives, carry out cleaning tasks in the usual home and take care of family members, among others.
Protocols must be negotiated to prevent
The Ministry of Labor has also included some additional measures in the decree which will be approved this Thursday, to expand prevention and safety at work in the face of weather alerts, more and more frequent due to climate change, they recall in the department by Yolanda Diaz.
Thus, a new obligation is established for collective bargaining to negotiate “action protocols” with risk prevention measures “in the face of disasters and other adverse weather phenomena”. A mandate which will cover “all collective agreements”, Labor says, and which will allow staff and businesses to be clear on how to act if an emergency of this type arises.
In addition, the ministry led by Yolanda Díaz undertakes to regulate within twelve months a regulation “on the protection of workers against the effects of climate change in the workplace”.
