Ombudsman challenges Social Security over unemployment benefits for domestic violence victims

This Thursday, the Ombudsman’s Office said that the right to unemployment benefits for victims of domestic violence who have terminated their employment contracts should be valid from May 2023, rather than from December of that year.

In a statement, the Ombudsman’s Office said it had advocated with the Institute of Social Security (ISS) for the recognition of this right of victims of domestic violence, enshrined in the Decent Work Act, from the law’s entry into force in May 2023, rather than December 1, 2023, according to the ISS.

According to the ombudsman, the position taken by the SIB “recognizes this right only in cases of reporting after December 1, 2023.”

“On the contrary, the Ombudsman’s Office maintains that in all cases of complaints filed after the entry into force of the Decent Work Act, which recognized that there was involuntary unemployment, the subsidies now requested must be paid,” the institution, headed by Maria Lucia Amaral, said in a note.

The Ombudsman’s Office reminds that the State Budget Act provided for the extension of unemployment benefits for victims of domestic violence to 2022, but only in 2023, thanks to the Decent Work Program, it was established that victims of domestic violence will be exempted from prior notice in the event of termination of the employment contract.

“The exemption from prior notice is due to the urgent need to protect victims, since in situations of domestic violence, the knowledge of the route and place of work by the aggressors in itself creates high risks. This means that from a legal point of view, the Exemption from Prior Notice of Termination of an Employment Contract corresponds to the recognition that the unemployment situation in which the victims remain is forced,” the Ombudsman explains.

The Ombudsman reminds that on 1 December 2023, the unemployment protection regime was changed and inquiries began to be received, but the Social Security Service refuses to pay unemployment benefits if the contract was terminated before that date, which is tantamount to treating these situations as if they were unmotivated reporting.

“These victims are thus placed in the same position as any worker who decides to terminate their employment contract without further ado, unjustifiably limiting the operation of the Decent Work Agenda,” the Ombudsman’s Office criticises, recommending that in all cases of complaints filed after the entry into force of the Decent Work Act, the requested subsidies should be paid.