The Minister of Social Security, Elma Saizappeared this Thursday to take stock of 2024 and report on the objectives of his portfolio in 2025. Among them, he announced one that is very relevant for workers: he is going to chair a new social dialogue table for the reform of temporary disabilitywhich is colloquially known as sick leave.
Specifically, with this new table with social agents (employers and unions), which will be held the last week of January, they intend to continue with the work to negotiate the new regulation of progressive dischargeswhich would apply to long-term sick leave (this would not be the case, for example, for sick leave due to flu, COVID…).
What do these progressive discharges consist of? This is what was initially presented as “flexible sick leave,” which created a stir in the unions as well as in the Government itself, specifically in the department of Yolanda Díaz. This model consists of making the incorporation of sick workers into their jobs more flexible. That is, in allow a progressive incorporation into work when they receive medical discharge, once they have recovered.
“The health of workers will be put at the center”
Regarding this reform of temporary disabilities, Elma Saiz has assured that The progress in these progressive discharges in long-term sick leave will be conceived with “the health of workers at the center” and within the framework of social dialogue.
When the measure was presented last year, it was made from a “very unfortunate” initial approach, as the unions described it. This is because, originally, it was implied that workers could “voluntarily” choose to make sick leave compatible with work. Both the unions and the Ministry of Labor quickly responded that such a measure would mean a loss of rights.
“There is only one reason behind temporary disability: to protect the health of working people. There are no more options or reasons. Neither flexibility nor partiality, you don’t play with your health,” Yolanda Díaz stated at the time. However, the Ministry of Social Security qualified this proposal, explaining that what they intended was that, in the case of long-term sick leave, there would be a gradual incorporation into work once the worker had been discharged and had recovered. .