Ombudsman challenges ISS position on unemployment benefit for victims of domestic violence

The Ombudsman’s Office has pleaded with the Social Security Institute’s (ISS) the right to unemployment benefits for victims of domestic violence who have terminated their employment contracts under the terms of the Decent Work Agenda Law, in force since May 2023. A different position is being adopted by the ISS, which only recognises this right in cases of termination after 1 December 2023.

The State Budget Law provided for the extension of unemployment benefit to victims of domestic violence in 2022. However, it wasn’t until 2023, with the Decent Work Agenda, that it was established that victims of domestic violence would be exempt from giving prior notice if they terminated their employment contracts.

The waiver of notice stems from the urgent need for victims to protect themselves, since in contexts of domestic violence, the perpetrators’ knowledge of the route and place of work generates high risks in itself. This means that, legally, the waiver of prior notice for the termination of an employment contract corresponds to the recognition that the unemployment situation in which victims find themselves is involuntary.

On 1 December 2023, the unemployment protection regime was changed and applications began to be made. Social Security has been refusing to pay unemployment benefit when the contract was terminated before this date, which amounts to treating these situations as if they had been unmotivated terminations. This puts these victims in the same position as any worker who decides, without further ado, to end their employment contract, unjustifiably restricting the effects of the Decent Work Agenda.

In contrast, the Ombudsman’s Office maintains that in all cases of complaints made after the entry into force of the Decent Work Agenda Law ─ which recognised that there was involuntary unemployment here ─ the benefits now being requested should be paid.