“School closures do not automatically entitle employees to take indispensable and urgent leave” (with Leonor Francisco)

«SRS Legal warns that “there has been no general order requiring private companies to close, no general exemption from the requirement to work on-site, nor any exceptional regime providing for justified absences, particularly for childcare due to school closures, which may give rise to situations for which the law provides no clear answer”.

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Leonor Francisco, Partner in SRS Legal’s Employment and Social Security Department, advises caution against the general assumption that the law allows employees to take justified absences with continued salary payment in all circumstances. Employees may not be entitled to remuneration if they are unable to travel to work, drawing a parallel with what happens during a strike. However, the lawyer stresses that reasonableness must prevail, and that employers and employees should engage in dialogue, given that no decree has been issued providing for an automatic exemption from attending the workplace or establishing a special regime for justified absences.»