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Economic protection during pregnancy and breastfeeding

When your job may affect your pregnancy or breastfeeding of your child, the law recognizes specific protection. The benefit for risk during pregnancy (REM) and for risk during breastfeeding of children under 9 months of age (RLN) guarantees you financial assistance while your contract is suspended or your professional activity is interrupted, provided that there is a risk linked to the conditions of your position and it is not possible to adapt it or change it for another compatible one.

On this page we explain, step by step and in clear language, what the benefit covers, what you need and how to process it with FREMAP.

Who can apply for this benefit

The benefit for risk during pregnancy and for risk during breastfeeding is aimed at working women, both employed and self-employed, who are registered and active in Social Security on the date the contract is suspended or the activity is interrupted. This also includes part-time work. 

In the case of employed workers, they are considered to be registered "by right" for the purposes of the benefit, even if the company has not fulfilled its registration and contribution obligations (this may generate liability for the company, but does not leave you without protection). 

For self-employed women, it is required to be registered in the corresponding regime (RETA, SETA, etc.) and up to date with payment of non-prescribed contributions.  

In certain cases, the REM/RLN leave of civil servants integrated into the General Regime and included in the scope of application of the Basic Statute of the Public Employee is also considered a protected situation.

Conditions for being entitled to the subsidy

To access the benefit, three sets of requirements must be met: protected status, registration/contribution and formal requirements. 

1. Protected situation:

  • There must be a specific risk to your pregnancy, fetus or infant, derived from agents, procedures or working conditions of your position, which necessarily entails and as a last resort the suspension of your employment contract or interruption of your professional activity, and not from an illness specific to pregnancy (when it is not related to agents, procedures or working conditions of the position held).
  • In the case of employees, the company must have specifically assessed the risk (carrying out an ADDITIONAL risk assessment and monitoring the worker's health) and have attempted prior to the suspension to adapt the job (or working time) or change the job. Only if this is not possible, is suspension and provision considered.

2. Membership and registration:

  • Be registered and actively contributing to the relevant Social Security system. For employed workers, registration is presumed even if the company has not processed it.  

3. Price:

  • Self-employed women and agricultural workers are required to be up to date with their social security contributions; If there is a debt, an invitation to pay within the deadline is offered so as not to lose the right (with possible reductions if it is regularized after 30 calendar days from our invitation).

Documents you will need to provide

The procedure has two main stages: First, obtaining the medical certificate of risk and then (if the FREMAP medical services have certified the risk and neither adaptation nor change of position has been possible) applying for the financial benefit. The key documentation is:

1. For the medical risk certificate (REM or RLN): 

  • Public Health Service (PHS) Report: 
    • In REM: Proof of pregnancy and expected delivery date.
    • In RLN: proves natural breastfeeding status.
  • Company certificate: Describe the activity, job conditions, risks, adaptation measures attempted and why they have not been sufficient.
  • Job risk assessment and list of risk-free jobs.
  • For self-employed workers, a declaration from the worker regarding the activity carried out, as well as the non-existence of a compatible job or function in such activity. When it comes to a self-employed worker who provides services in cooperative societies or worker-owned or commercial companies, this declaration must be made by the administrator of the company. If the worker is an economically dependent self-employed worker, the aforementioned declaration must be made by her client. Proof of the last installments paid.

2. To apply for benefits with FREMAP: 

  • FREMAP medical certificate (positive or delayed to a future risk date).
  • Declaration from the company or self-employed person with the date of suspension of the contract or interruption of the activity.
  • Health surveillance report (employed workers).
  • Company certificate with the contribution base.
  • Declaration of activity status (self-employed) and bank details and IRPF.

When does it start and how long does it last?

The benefit is granted from the moment that, given the proven risk, a compatible job change is not possible and the employment relationship is suspended or the self-employment activity is interrupted. 

Start of REM benefit:

  • Based on the FREMAP medical certificate, the cause of action (protected situation) is the suspension of the employment contract or the interruption of the self-employed worker's activity, without prejudice to the preventive measures that the company may have previously decided.
  • The financial benefit begins on the same day that the suspension of the employment contract begins (FREMAP's employees) or the day after the medical certificate is issued by the FREMAP medical services, although the economic effects will occur, in any case, from the date of the effective cessation of the corresponding professional activity (self-employed).

End of REM:

  • It ends the day before the start of the leave for childbirth and childcare. 

RLN Start:

  • It can only be recognized when it does not coincide with the leave for birth and childcare.

End of the RLN:

  • It ends the day before the child turns 9 months old, or earlier if you return to work without risk.

FREMAP must issue an express agreement recognizing or denying the benefit within 30 business days from the request, unless suspended by a report from the Labor Inspection. 

How to process your benefit step by step

The itinerary for the worker is simple if we look at it in phases:

1

Inform your company or client that you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and request health monitoring and risk assessment for your position.

2

The company's Prevention Service assesses whether there is a specific risk and whether the job or working time can be adapted (these adaptation measures will include, when necessary, not performing night work or shift work).

3

If adaptation is not possible, make an appointment with FREMAP so that their medical services can assess the risk and issue the REM/RLN medical certificate, if applicable.

4

With the FREMAP medical certificate, the company (or you, if you are self-employed) decides on the change of position or the suspension of the contract/activity.

5

If a change of position is not possible, submit the application for financial assistance to FREMAP, with an electronic signature or on paper, along with the required documentation (certificates, reports, statement of situation, bank details).

6

You will receive the written agreement of recognition or denial and, if favorable, the periodic payment of the subsidy.

The benefit for risk during pregnancy and for risk during breastfeeding is regulated in the General Social Security Law (LGSS), which considers these benefits as derived from occupational contingencies (arts. 186 to 189) and in Royal Decree 295/2009 (RDR), which develops the conditions of access, amount and procedure.

The Occupational Risk Prevention Law and the regulations for prevention services establish the obligation of the company to assess the specific risks for pregnant or breastfeeding workers, adapt the job or working time and, only as a last resort, suspend the employment contract (in accordance with the Workers' Statute).

FREMAP's medical services assess, on a case-by-case basis, the existence of risk and impossibility of adaptation, as well as the need for a change of position, relying on the clinical guidelines of the SEGO (Spanish Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics) for REM and of the AEP (Spanish Association of Pediatrics) for RLN.

The amount of the subsidy is 100% of the regulatory base for professional contingencies, as it is equivalent to temporary incapacity due to a work accident. Except when the scheme in question does not provide coverage for occupational contingencies.

Is “high-risk pregnancy” the same as “risk during pregnancy (REM)”?

No. “High-risk pregnancy” is a medical situation that is processed as temporary disability (TD) when you need treatment or rest. REM only exists when the risk comes from your job and cannot be eliminated by adapting conditions or changing jobs. 

Can I collect IT and REM/RLN at the same time?

Generally speaking, no. The regulations do not allow simultaneously receiving the IT subsidy and the risk subsidy in the same activity. If you're in IT, that situation must be resolved before assessing the risk, and vice versa. 

As an exception, the possibility is contemplated that a worker in a situation of multiple employment or multiple activity (in different Social Security schemes) may simultaneously receive the risk benefit during pregnancy or breastfeeding in relation to some of her activities and continue her paid work in others, when these do not pose a risk to her health or that of the fetus. Consequently, in these cases, we may find sick leave in those activities compatible with receiving the economic benefit for risk during pregnancy, making it possible to combine both types of subsidy.

What happens if my company hasn't paid social security contributions or registered me?

When someone else is using your account, the law protects you: You are considered to be fully registered and FREMAP can advance the benefit, claiming it later from the company. In the case of self-employed and agricultural workers, it is necessary to get up to date with the fees within the deadlines for payment invitation. 

Is the benefit compatible with another activity?

The benefit protects against the risk in the specific activity that is suspended. In cases of multiple activities, the risk must be assessed in each activity and different situations may coexist depending on the entity that covers each contingency.

When the risk situation affects one or some of the activities carried out by the worker, but not all of them, she will only be entitled to the subsidy in the scheme in which the activities in which said risk exist are included. The receipt of the subsidy will be compatible with maintaining those activities that the worker was already performing or could begin to perform and that do not involve risk during pregnancy.

I am a company, can I get any bonus?

In cases where the worker is assigned to a different job or function compatible with her condition, a bonus of 138 euros/month is applied from September 1, 2023, and the company must prove the risk situation through the report of results of the risk assessment referred to in art. 16.2 of Law 31/1995, of November 8. Article 19 of Royal Decree-Law 1/2023, of January 10.