Judgment;Summary — ECLI:EU:C:2024:407
Date: 2024-05-16
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Seventh Chamber
Subject matter: Social Policy
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling - inadmissible
Origin: Spain

Summary C-673/22 – 1 
Case C-673/22 
Summary of the request for a preliminary ruling pursuant to Article 98(1) of 
the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice 
Date lodged: 
27 October 2022 
Referring court: 
Juzgado de lo Social n.º 1 de Sevilla (Spain) 
Date of the decision to refer: 
28 September 2022 
Applicant: 
C.C.C. 
Defendant: 
Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS) 
Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS) 
  
Subject matter of the main proceedings 
Birth and childcare leave (parental leave) – Single-parent family – Extension of 
the duration of parental leave in the case of single-parent families 
Subject matter and legal basis of the request for a preliminary ruling 
Article 267 TFEU – Directive (EU) 2019/1158 – Article 5 – Spanish legislation 
which does not take account of the specific needs of single-parent families – 
Difference in treatment from two-parent families – Interpretation of the EU 
provision 
Questions referred for a preliminary ruling 
(i) Is the omission by the Spanish legislature from Article 48(2) of the 
Consolidated Text of the Law on the Workers’ Statute (Texto Refundido de la Ley 
EN 
SUMMARY OF THE REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING – CASE C-673/22 
 
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del Estatuto de los Trabajadores) and from Articles 177, 178 and 179 of the 
Consolidated Text of the General Law on Social Security (Texto Refundido de la 
Ley General de la Seguridad Social) of provisions requiring an assessment of the 
specific needs of single-parent families in the area of work-life balance, having 
implications for the period in which care is provided to a new-born child, as 
compared with a child born into a two-parent family in which both parents have 
an expectation of access to paid leave if both fulfil the conditions of access to the 
social security benefit, compatible with the Directive, which requires a specific 
assessment, inter alia, of the birth of a child into a single-parent family, in order to 
determine the conditions of access to and the detailed arrangements for parental 
leave?  
(ii) In the absence of a specific statutory provision laid down by the Spanish 
legislature, must the eligibility conditions for time off work for the birth of a child, 
the conditions of access to the social security cash benefit and the rules governing 
eligibility for parental leave, and, in particular, the possible extension of the 
duration of that leave owing to the lack of another parent other than the biological 
mother who cares for the child, be interpreted flexibly pursuant to the Community 
provision? 
Provisions of European Union law relied on 
Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council 
Directive 2010/18/EU, recital 37 and Article 5. 
Provisions of national law relied on 
Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015 approving the Consolidated Text of the Law on 
the Workers’ Statute (Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015 por el que se aprueba el 
Texto Refundido de la Ley del Estatuto de los Trabajadores) of 23 October 2015 
Pursuant to Article 48(4), childbirth, which includes the delivery and the care of 
an infant under the age of 12 months, will suspend the biological mother’s 
employment contract for 16 weeks, of which the six continuous weeks 
immediately following the delivery will be mandatory and must be taken on a full-
time basis to ensure that the mother’s health is protected. Likewise, childbirth will 
suspend the contract of the parent other than the biological mother for 16 weeks, 
of which the six continuous weeks immediately following the delivery will be 
mandatory and must be taken on a full-time basis in order to comply with the care 
obligations laid down in Article 68 of the Civil Code (Código Civil). This is an 
individual right of each worker and the exercise of it may not be transferred to the 
other parent. 
The suspension of each parent’s contract on childcare grounds once the first six 
weeks immediately following the delivery have elapsed may be freely divided into 
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weekly periods which may be aggregated or taken separately and that right may 
be exercised from the end of the mandatory suspension following delivery until 
the child’s first birthday. However, the biological mother may bring forward the 
exercise of that right up to four weeks before the expected date of delivery. 
In addition, in the case of a premature, underweight birth where the new-born has 
to remain in hospital after the birth for more than seven days, the suspension 
period shall be extended by the number of days the new-born is hospitalised, up to 
a maximum of 13 additional weeks. 
Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015 on the Consolidated Text of the General Law on 
Social Security (Real Decreto Legislativo 8/2015 por el que se regula el Texto 
Refundido de la Ley General de la Seguridad Social) of 30 October 2015 
In accordance with Article 178 of the General Law on Social Security, the 
recipients of the contributory birth and childcare benefit are persons included in 
the General Scheme, whatever their sex, who are entitled to the periods of time off 
work referred to in the previous article, provided that, in addition to satisfying the 
general condition laid down in Article 165(1) and such other conditions as may be 
laid down by law, they show that they have completed certain minimum 
contribution periods. The minimum contribution periods are specified in 
Article 178. In accordance with Article 179, that benefit consists of an allowance 
equivalent to 100% of the basic amount for the individual worker. 
Article 181 provides for a non-contributory birth benefit for female workers 
included in the General Scheme who, in the case of childbirth, satisfy all the 
conditions laid down for eligibility for the childbirth and childcare benefit 
governed by Article 178, with the exception of the minimum contribution period 
required. Under Article 182, the amount of the benefit is to be equal to 100% of 
the Multiple-Purpose Public Income Index (indicador público de renta de efectos 
múltiples (IPREM)) applicable at that time, unless the basic amount calculated in 
accordance with Article 179 or Article 248 is lower, in which case that amount is 
to be used. The duration of that benefit is 42 calendar days to run from the date of 
delivery and it will be increased by 14 days where, amongst other situations, the 
child is born into a single-parent family. 
Succinct presentation of the facts and procedure in the main proceedings 
1 On 5 November 2021, Ms C.C.C. gave birth to her son who remained in hospital 
until 30 November 2021. Ms C.C.C. and her son form a single-parent family. 
2 Ms C.C.C. is an employee enrolled in the Social Security System General Scheme 
and she qualified for parental benefit and therefore applied for it. 
3 By decisions of 10 and 14 December 2021, taking into account the period of time 
the child had spent in hospital, the Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social 
SUMMARY OF THE REQUEST FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING – CASE C-673/22 
 
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(INSS; National Social Security Institute) granted Ms C.C.C. a period of 
entitlement to the benefit from 5 November 2021 to 24 February 2022. 
4 Ms C.C.C. disagreed with the duration of the parental leave and, on 22 February 
2022, she filed a fresh application with the INSS seeking an extension of 16 
additional weeks based on her status as a single parent. 
5 That application was refused by the INSS. Ms C.C.C. brought an action contesting 
that refusal before the referring court, seeking an order recognising her right to 
extend her leave to 32 weeks. 
Essential arguments of the parties in the main proceedings 
6 Ms C.C.C. submits that, in establishing the duration of parental leave, the Spanish 
legislation discriminates against children born into single-parent families because 
those children do not benefit from the period of 16 weeks’ care which the other 
parent provides to children born into two-parent families. Ms C.C.C. refers to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted and opened for signature and 
ratification by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution 44/25 of 
20 November 1989, and ratified by the Kingdom of Spain. 
7 The defendant argues that the Spanish legislation in relation to the rights of the 
child does not entail any discrimination. Article 182(3)(b) of the General Law on 
Social Security, which provides for a 14-day increase for single-parent families in 
the case of the non-contributory benefit, implies that single-parent families were 
examined by the Spanish legislature. No provision was made in respect of the 
contributory benefit since granting an additional 16 weeks’ time off work and 
benefit merely on account of being a single-parent family would discriminate 
against the children of two-parent families, since the right is not granted 
automatically but is rather an individual right and each parent is required to meet 
the criteria relating to enrolment and completion of the relevant contribution 
periods. 
The defendant contends that it follows from the individual nature of that right that, 
in the case of two-parent families, it is possible that both parents, only one of them 
or neither of them will meet the criteria for entitlement to parental leave. 
Allowing, in any event, the biological mother of a child born into a single-parent 
family to take the full period of parental leave (her own period of 16 weeks plus 
the 16 weeks to which the other parent would be entitled) would discriminate 
against two-parent families. 
Succinct presentation of the reasoning in the request for a preliminary ruling 
8 The referring court asks whether the absence in the Spanish legal system of a 
statutory provision adapted to the specific circumstances of single-parent families 
is compatible with Article 5(8) of Directive (EU) 2019/1158, in conjunction with 
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recital 37 thereof. In other words, whether legislation like the Spanish legislation, 
which, in framing the right to paid parental leave as an individual, personal and 
non-transferrable right of the worker, connected to the legal situations of time off 
work for the birth of a child, makes no distinction based on different types of 
families, for the purposes of ensuring work-life balance and the provision of 
necessary care to the child which takes into account the existence of differences 
which may be important for those purposes, is compatible with Directive 
2019/1158. 
9 The Spanish legislation precludes any possibility of extending the period of 
entitlement to parental leave and, as a consequence, any possibility of treating 
single-parent families in the same way as two-parent families, who have, at least, 
a legal expectation of entitlement to a maximum of 32 weeks’ parental leave. The 
failure to provide for measures or conditions to establish flexibility has led, now, 
to a shorter period of childcare leave in a single-parent family as compared with 
the legal expectation which the parents in two-parent families have of taking the 
maximum period of 32 weeks if they meet the eligibility criteria for the benefit. 
10 Uncertainty exists as to whether, owing to the specific difficulties of work-life 
balance which affect the biological mother in the absence of another parent to care 
for the child, the birth of a child into a single-parent family constitutes grounds for 
the modification and adaptation of the legal conditions for entitlement to the 
benefit and, in particular, whether it would justify the extension of the period of 
parental leave so that the biological mother can take all or some of the 16 weeks to 
which the other parent would be entitled, since the sole aim of that leave is to care 
for the child. 
11 The question arises whether it is possible to include the situation of a single-parent 
family in the situations provided for in Article 5(8) of Directive (EU) 2019/1158, 
by applying an interpretation compatible with recital 37. The question also arises 
whether the obligation to establish a legal framework adapted to the specific needs 
in the matter of work-life balance which characterise single-parent families 
constitutes minimum EU legislation which is binding on the Member States.