Case C-673/22, Parental Leave:

C.C.C. – v – Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS) and Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS), reference lodged by the Juzgado de lo Social n.º 1 de Sevilla (Spain) on 27 October 2022

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 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?
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?