This Monday, ERC requested the appearance of the Ministers of Social Security, Elma Saiz, and of Equality, Ana Redondo, at the Congress of Deputies due to the sending of data by the National Institute of Social Security (INSS ) which allow companies to know the reason for work stoppage due to an abortion, as well as painful periods. “This is unacceptable,” denounces the Catalan parliamentary group, which became aware of this situation following the publication of elDiario.es.
This data submission concerns “special” sick leave regulated by the abortion law of the last legislature: due to disabling periods, abortion and the last part of pregnancy (week 39), for which the social protection was expanded. For example, they charge from the first day and not from the fourth. However, when processing this “special” coverage which does not exist in the rest of the withdrawals, Social Security communicates to companies certain codes which allow companies to know the reason for the withdrawal. This is what happened to Silvia and what she told this media: “I felt like the most vulnerable person in the world. »
Following the information published by elDiario.es and requests for urgent correction from unions, doctors and women’s associations, the Ministry of Social Security responded to this media that it will “evaluate” its procedure, while insisting that its processing aims to implement the reinforced social protection approved by law and defends that it complies with data protection legislation. This point is the subject of an investigation by the National Data Protection Agency (AEPD) following a complaint filed by the Galician union CIG last December.
Explain why this happened and correct
The ERC parliamentary group demands the appearance of the two ministers “to give explanations on the recent information published by elDiario.es on the failure of the regulation of special sick leave due to painful periods, for abortions and in the last part of pregnancy (week 39 gestation), which led companies to receive information about the reason for the work stoppage, thus compromising the privacy of workers and violating current data protection regulations, and to set out the measures they plan to adopt to remedy it,” indicates the request, to which this media had access.
The Catalan independence party explains that these reductions in the law on abortion had the support of its parliamentary group. “The intention was that the legislation would obtain new feminist rights for women, but given the “failure” that allowed the diagnosis of these cases to reach the companies, the privacy of many workers was violated, which, according to us, have not received timely explanations from the responsible ministries,” say ERC sources.
The parliamentary group requests the appearance of the Ministry of Social Security to explain “how, despite the warnings of social agents who warned of the possibility that companies would know the reason for these sick leaves by regulating them as a ‘special’ temporary incapacity, the “The Spanish government has taken no action to prevent it.”
Also that Minister Elma Saiz explains “how they intend to act to resolve this problem, because it is unacceptable for the diagnoses to reach companies”.
Regarding the appearance of Ana Redondo, ERC sources explain that, “as the person most responsible for safeguarding women’s rights”, they consider that the Minister of Equality “must give an urgent response and be at the forefront of ensuring that the Department of Social Security prioritizes the resolution of this very serious error.
“For our training, it is a priority that the two ministries give all the necessary explanations to repair the situation and, in return, guarantee that this does not happen again,” insists ERC.
