The leave to care for children and relatives: Its compatibility with an employed activity or self-employment and unfair competition

Abstract

This paper analyses the possibility to make compatible a parental leave to care for children and/or family members with an employed activity or self-employment. The lack of a firm legal north, coupled with the frequent occasions in which this situation has happened, has given rise to plainly contradictory positions in the Superior Courts of Justice, more when the issue of unfair competition comes into play because many conventional clauses limit this item to the employment in the same industry or activity. Recently the Supreme Court, following on the steps of a previous constitutional doctrine line, has consolidated solid foundations to understand that it is possible to reconcile this singular leave with the work. However, there is still a long way to know their view about the restrictions introduced through collective bargaining, the individual contract or imposed by the employer, issues on upon which, the essay provides criterions that may be of interest.