Eight-week parental leave: National High Court judgment of 30/09/2025, remuneration and effects for companies and workers

Work–life balance has been the focus of increasing regulatory attention in recent years, especially following the adoption of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work–life balance for parents and carers.

In this context, in June 2023 the Spanish legislator introduced the so-called eight-week parental leave, intended for the care of children under eight years of age. However, the legal nature of this leave, in particular whether or not it is paid, has generated significant interpretative controversy since its adoption.

The recent judgment of the National High Court, dated 30 September 2025, provides a relevant interpretation on this point, concluding that Spanish parental leave does not have to be paid, and that this does not entail a breach of EU law.

In this article we will analyse the content of that decision, its legal reasoning and its practical implications for companies and workers, as well as possible future developments in case law.

As we have already noted in previous briefing notes, Article 48 bis of the Workers’ Statute regulates parental leave as an individual right of parents to be absent from work for a maximum of eight weeks, until the child turns eight. This leave is structured as unpaid, and its use entails the suspension of the employment contract pursuant to Article 45.1.o) of the same statute.

For its part, Directive (EU) 2019/1158 (its full text can be accessed here) establishes in Article 5 the obligation for Member States to guarantee a minimum of four months of parental leave. However, Article 20.6 of the same legal text allows other periods of absence for family reasons that are already financially covered and exceed the minimum standards laid down in the Directive to be counted towards these four months. In other words, the Directive provides that States must guarantee financial compensation during parental leave, but allows this compensation to be fulfilled through other paid family-related leaves.

It is in this sense that the recent judgment of the National High Court rules, holding that the transposition of the Directive has been correctly carried out by the Spanish legislator, complying with the obligation to guarantee remuneration for eight weeks for the care of children, albeit not through parental leave itself but through other existing types of paid leave – in this case, maternity or paternity leave and breastfeeding leave.

Let us recall that, as a result of the amendment introduced by Royal Decree-Law 9/2025, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on 30 July 2025, parents currently have the following paid leave entitlements in cases of birth or adoption (you can access here the article in which we reported on this development):

• 19 weeks of birth or adoption leave, financed by Social Security.
• Paid breastfeeding leave, borne by companies.

It is worth noting that various labour courts had adopted an interpretation different from that now upheld by the National High Court, considering that the European Directive requires parental leave to be paid, even in the absence of domestic implementing legislation.

With the current interpretation of the National High Court, we now have somewhat greater legal certainty as regards the unpaid nature of parental leave, but the debate is not closed. The development of case law and the possible ruling of the Supreme Court (TS) will be decisive in consolidating or modifying this position.

Pending a decision by the Supreme Court, the Employment Advisory department recommends properly documenting all requests for parental leave.

For our part, we will remain attentive to any potential regulatory developments or court decisions that may affect its application.