The new Family Law has expanded and redefined many of the cases in which workers can request paid permits to meet family needs. However, one of the main doubts that arise in practice is how to calculate kinship to know if a permission corresponds or not. Understanding the scope of the degrees of consanguinity and affinity is key for both companies and employees to correctly apply these rights and avoid conflicts.
In the webinar orh «the Law of Families. Conciliation measures, labor permits and jurisprudence ”, organized in collaboration with Adlander, we carry out an exhaustive review of the current scenario, analyzing the new protected rights, the extensions of the existing existing ones and the obligations that the new regulations entail for the companies. And, among other issues, Mamen Sánchez Herrera, labor advisor and speaker of the session, addressed a capital point: the calculation of kinship in labor permits.
What is kinship?
Kinship is a legal and social concept that has repercussions in different areas of everyday life, from Inheritance rights until the right to enjoy certain Labor permits or legal benefits. Therefore, understanding the nature of how this link is established is essential for people and organizations.
In general terms, kinship is the link that unites two people and can have biological or legal nature:
- Consanguinity linkwhich refers to the blood relationship between the worker and his own family.
- Affinity linkwhich arises from the legal bond with the spouse’s family.
These ties are not measured arbitrarily, but through degrees or generations. Each generation is a degree that can be organized in:
- Straight or direct lineswhich include ascending family members (parents, grandparents) and descending (children, grandchildren).
- Collateral lineswhich connect through a common trunk (as with brothers, uncles or cousins).
In this way, the kinship establishes an essential framework of reference to delimit rights and obligations in the civil, succession and labor.
Kinship types
With the entry into force of the New Family LawHuman Resources departments face the challenge of clearly identifying who are considered relatives for labor permits. To do this, it is essential to understand the different types of kinship and how they are structured according to their degree.
He kinship or link for consanguinity It arises from the blood bond between the worker and his own family. It is measured in degrees depending on the generations that separate them:
- First grade: Parents and children.
- Second grade: grandparents, grandchildren and brothers.
- Third grade: uncles, nephews, great -grandparents and great -grandchildren.
- Fourth grade: cousins brothers and uncles grandparents.
On the other hand, the kinship or bond by affinity It corresponds to the relationship with the spouse’s family, and is also classified by degrees:
- First grade: in -laws, son -in -law or daughter -in -law, and stepsons (children of the spouse).
- Second grade: brothers -in -law (spouse brothers), grandparents of the spouse, spouses of the grandchildren, stepbrother.
- Third grade: spouses of uncles, spouses of the nephews, uncles and nephews of the spouse (and their respective spouses).
- Fourth grade: spouses of the cousins brothers and children of the spouse’s uncles.
At this point it is important to remember that the Supreme Court (STS 1071/1998, of February 18) Said jurisprudence when establishing that the affinity relationship in second grade It applies to both the brothers of the worker’s spouse and the spouse of the worker’s brothers. Said in another way: The worker’s brother’s spouse also has the condition of brother -in -law For permits, which is especially relevant in cases of death or other serious family circumstances.
In short, knowing these degrees of kinship accurately allows human resources directors to correctly apply the paid and conciliation permitsguaranteeing legal certainty and avoiding interpretive conflicts.
