# Sick leave and parental leave as an autónomo

> What an autónomo in Euskadi gets when ill, injured or having a baby: sick pay from your mutua, 19 weeks of birth leave at 100%, and the fee relief.

- Page: https://autonomo.eus/steps/sick-leave
- Part: Part D: Run your business
- For: Everyone
- Last checked: 14 October 2026

As an autónomo you are covered when you cannot work. Your *mutua* pays you sick pay (*incapacidad temporal*) and Social Security pays you birth and childcare leave (*nacimiento y cuidado de menor*) at 100% of your base. **You only get paid if your fees are up to date, and for sick leave you must apply to your mutua within 15 days of your doctor's note.**

## Before you start

- Your Social Security fees paid up to date. Check in [Import@ss](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass) under "Consulta de deudas y pagos"
- The name of your *mutua colaboradora con la Seguridad Social*. It is on the proof of registration (*justificante*) you downloaded when you [registered with Social Security](https://autonomo.eus/steps/register-social-security)
- Your digital ID: [Cl@ve](https://autonomo.eus/steps/clave) or your [FNMT certificate](https://autonomo.eus/steps/fnmt-certificate)
- Your health card (*TIS*), to see your Osakidetza doctor. See [Get your health card](https://autonomo.eus/steps/health-card)
- Your bank account number (IBAN)
- For a birth: your passport or TIE, the baby's birth certificate or family book (*libro de familia*) and, for the mother, the maternity report (*informe de maternidad*) from Osakidetza

## Sick leave

Sick leave (*incapacidad temporal*, often just *baja*) pays you a daily amount while a doctor says you cannot work. The money comes from your *mutua*, not from Social Security directly. The rules differ for an ordinary illness and for a work accident.

| | Ordinary illness or accident outside work | Work accident or work-related illness |
|---|---|---|
| Who signs you off | Your Osakidetza doctor at your *centro de salud* | Your mutua's doctor |
| Paid from | Day 4 of the leave | The day after the leave starts |
| How much | 60% of your base from day 4 to day 20, then 75% from day 21 | 75% from the day after the leave starts |
| Minimum contributions | 180 days paid in the 5 years before the illness | None |
| Fees up to date | Required | Required |

Your base (*base reguladora*) is the contribution base you chose when you set your fee. See [Understand your monthly fee](https://autonomo.eus/steps/monthly-fee). A higher base means higher sick pay.

If you owe fees, Social Security "invites you to pay" (*invitación al pago*): you get 30 days to clear the debt and keep the right to the benefit.

**Your fee while on sick leave.** You keep paying your monthly fee for the first 60 days. From day 61 of the leave, your mutua pays the fee for you, for all contingencies, until you are signed back on. You do not have to ask for this: it follows from the sick note and your benefit.

**Who runs your business.** Within 15 days of the sick note, you must tell the mutua who is managing your business while you are off, or that you have closed it for now. This is the declaration of the state of your activity (*declaración de situación de la actividad*). If the leave is long, the mutua may ask you for a new declaration every six months. Without this declaration your payments are suspended.

**Your medical certificates.** Your doctor gives you a copy of the sick note (*parte de baja*). Since 1 April 2023 the health service sends the data to Social Security itself, so you no longer deliver paper copies to anyone, but your mutua still needs your application. Follow-up notes (*partes de confirmación*) come at fixed intervals: for a leave expected to last 5 to 30 days, your first review is within 7 days and then at most every 14 days; for 31 to 60 days, at most every 28 days; for 61 days or more, at most every 35 days. Attend them. A missed review can end your leave. The sign-off note (*parte de alta*) ends the leave and your payments.

In Euskadi the medical control of sick leave is shared between the Basque Government's medical inspectorate (*Inspección Médica*), the INSS and the mutuas. Any of them can check on your leave.

## Birth and childcare leave

The birth and childcare benefit (*prestación por nacimiento y cuidado de menor*) replaces what used to be called maternity and paternity leave. Since 1 January 2021 both parents have the same, non-transferable leave. It also covers adoption, guardianship for adoption and fostering of a child under 6 for more than a year.

**How long.** For births from 31 July 2025, each parent gets 19 weeks (32 weeks for a single parent). The law sets the weeks for employees, and the law for autónomos says your periods match theirs in length and distribution. They split like this:

- 6 weeks straight after the birth, full time, for both parents. These are compulsory.
- 11 more weeks to take, together or in blocks, before the child turns 12 months.
- 2 more weeks to take at any time before the child turns 8. These two weeks were added in 2025 and also apply to children born on or after 2 August 2024. Parents of those children can ask for them since 1 January 2026.

The mother can start up to 4 weeks before the due date. After the compulsory 6 weeks, an autónomo can take the rest part-time, but only at 50%.

**How much.** 100% of your base, paid by the INSS (*Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social*), not by your mutua. Your daily base is your contribution bases of the 6 months before the month prior to the birth, divided by 180.

**Minimum contributions.** They depend on your age on the day of the birth:

| Your age | Contributions needed |
|---|---|
| Under 21 | None |
| 21 to 25 | 90 days in the last 7 years, or 180 days in your whole working life |
| 26 or older | 180 days in the last 7 years, or 360 days in your whole working life |

You must be registered and up to date with your fees. The 30-day invitation to pay applies here too.

**Your fee during the leave.** While you are on this leave, Social Security covers 100% of the common-contingencies part of your fee, except the small part that pays for sick leave. The discount is worked out on your average base over the last 12 months. The same discount applies during pregnancy risk and breastfeeding risk leave. A mother who stops her activity for a birth and starts again within 2 years gets 80% off the common-contingencies part of her fee for 24 months.

**Pregnancy and breastfeeding risk.** If your work is a risk to your pregnancy, or to breastfeeding a baby under 9 months, and you cannot adapt it, your mutua pays you 100% of your base from the day you stop. No minimum contributions are needed. You ask your mutua for the medical certificate of risk and apply on its website, with your fee receipts for the last 3 months and the declaration of the state of your activity.

**Help from the Basque Government.** Separately from Social Security, families living in Euskadi get €200 a month for each child from birth until the month before the child turns 4, with no income limit. You need at least 1 year registered at the same address as the child, or 5 of the last 10 years. Apply within 3 months of the birth to get the full amount; in 2026 the deadline is extended to 31 December 2026. Apply at [Ayudas mensuales a familias con hijas o hijos](https://www.euskadi.eus/ayuda_subvencion/2026/ayudas-mensuales-a-familias-con-hijas-o-hijos/web01-tramite/es/) with your [BakQ](https://autonomo.eus/steps/bakq) or at a [Zuzenean office](https://autonomo.eus/steps/offices#contact-zuzenean).

## How to do it

**Sick leave**

1. See your Osakidetza doctor at your *centro de salud* on the first day you cannot work. For a work accident, go to your mutua's medical centre instead. Ask for your copy of the sick note (*parte de baja*).
2. Within 15 days, apply to your mutua for direct payment (*pago directo*) of the benefit. Each mutua has an online service for this; find yours in the [Social Security list of mutuas](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/InformacionUtil/39641/). Log in with Cl@ve or your certificate, or use the mutua's own form.
3. Attach your ID, the sick note, proof that your fees for the 2 months before the leave were paid, proof that the bank account is yours, and the declaration of the state of your activity (*declaración de situación de la actividad*): who runs the business, or that it is closed for now.
4. Attend every review appointment and keep the follow-up notes.
5. Keep paying your fee for the first 60 days. From day 61 your mutua pays it.
6. When the doctor signs you off, the sign-off note (*parte de alta*) ends the payments. If you changed your contribution base while on leave, the change applies from the day after.

**Birth and childcare leave**

1. Register the birth at the civil registry (*Registro Civil*) and get the birth certificate or family book. The mother asks Osakidetza for the maternity report (*informe de maternidad*).
2. Apply online at [Tu Seguridad Social](https://sede-tu.seg-social.gob.es/) with Cl@ve or your certificate. Each parent applies for their own leave. The portal can also simulate your weeks and your amount before you apply. If you have no digital ID, use the INSS service [without a certificate](https://prestaciones.seg-social.es/). On paper, download the form from the [Import@ss forms page](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass?1dmy&urile=wcm%3Apath%3A/wps/wcm/connect/importass/importass_contenidos/solicitudes/completar) and post it to the INSS provincial office or hand it in at a CAISS by appointment.
3. Choose how you take your weeks: the 6 compulsory weeks, then the other 11 in one block or several, full time or at 50%. If you want the part-time option, sign the INSS declaration for autónomos on part-time leave (*declaración del trabajador por cuenta propia sobre disfrute del descanso a tiempo parcial*).
4. Attach your ID, the birth certificate or family book and, for the mother, the maternity report. If you still owe fees, pay them within the 30 days of the invitation to pay.
5. The INSS answers only by electronic notification (*Notificaciones telemáticas*) on the Social Security website. Check it. Once approved, the INSS pays into your account.
6. In the month after the leave starts, check your fee receipt. The 100% discount on the common-contingencies part should appear. If it does not, contact the TGSS. See [how to contact Social Security](https://autonomo.eus/steps/offices#contact-social-security).
7. For the 2 extra weeks before the child turns 8, apply again on Tu Seguridad Social when you want to take them.

## Where

- **Sick note:** your Osakidetza *centro de salud*. Find it with the [Osakidetza health centre finder](https://www.osakidetza.euskadi.eus/buscador-de-centros-sanitarios-y-hospitales/webosk00-cercon/es/). For phone numbers, see [Contact Osakidetza](https://autonomo.eus/steps/offices#contact-osakidetza). Your medical reports are in Osakidetza's [Carpeta de Salud](https://www.osakidetza.euskadi.eus/carpeta-de-salud/webosk00-sercon/es/).
- **Sick pay, work accidents, pregnancy and breastfeeding risk:** your mutua, online or at its centres in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. The [Social Security list of mutuas](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/InformacionUtil/39641/) gives every website.
- **Birth and childcare benefit:** online at [Tu Seguridad Social](https://sede-tu.seg-social.gob.es/), or in person at a Social Security office (*CAISS*) by appointment. Find offices on the [Social Security office finder](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/OficinaSeguridadSocial/). For appointments and phone numbers, see [how to contact Social Security](https://autonomo.eus/steps/offices#contact-social-security).
- **Basque child aid:** online at [euskadi.eus](https://www.euskadi.eus/ayuda_subvencion/2026/ayudas-mensuales-a-familias-con-hijas-o-hijos/web01-tramite/es/) or at [Zuzenean](https://autonomo.eus/steps/offices#contact-zuzenean).

## Cost and time

- Cost: none. These benefits are part of what your monthly fee pays for.
- Sick pay starts on day 4 for an ordinary illness and on the day after the sick note for a work accident. Your mutua pays after it approves your application.
- Birth leave: the compulsory 6 weeks start on the day of the birth. Apply as soon as you have the birth certificate, and the INSS pays once it approves the claim.
- Basque child aid: apply within 3 months of the birth for the full amount.

## Common mistakes

- Owing fees when you fall ill or when the baby is born. You get one 30-day chance to pay. If you miss it, you lose the benefit.
- Missing the 15-day deadline to send the mutua your application and the declaration of the state of your activity. Payments are suspended until it arrives.
- Keeping your business running yourself and invoicing while on full sick leave. The declaration says someone else runs it or it is closed. Inspectors from the mutua, the INSS or the Basque medical inspectorate can check, and you would have to pay the money back.
- Stopping your direct debit because you think the fee is waived. During sick leave you still pay the first 60 days. During birth leave the discount only covers the common-contingencies part of the fee, not the whole fee.
- Assuming the birth leave discount was applied. Check your fee receipt and ask the TGSS if it is missing.
- Skipping a review appointment with your doctor or the medical inspectorate. Your leave and your payments can end.
- Forgetting the Basque Government's €200 a month. It is a separate application, with its own 3-month deadline.

## Official sources

- [Social Security: guide for autónomos](https://portal.seg-social.gob.es/wps/portal/importass/importass/Colectivos/trabajo+autonomo/guia)
- [Social Security: birth and childcare benefit](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/Trabajadores/PrestacionesPensionesTrabajadores/6b96a085-4dc0-47af-b2cb-97e00716791e)
- [Social Security magazine: how to apply for the birth and childcare benefit](https://revista.seg-social.es/-/c%C3%B3mo-pedir-la-prestaci%C3%B3n-por-nacimiento-y-cuidado-de-menor)
- [Social Security magazine: the leave rises from 16 to 19 weeks](https://revista.seg-social.es/-/el-gobierno-ampl%C3%ADa-en-tres-semanas-el-permiso-de-nacimiento-y-cuidado-de-menor-y-lo-incrementa-a-32-semanas-para-familias-monoparentales)
- [Social Security magazine: 16 weeks for both parents from January 2021](https://revista.seg-social.es/-/el-permiso-por-nacimiento-y-cuidado-de-menor-ser%C3%A1-de-16-semanas-para-ambos-progenitores-a-partir-de-enero)
- [Social Security magazine: pregnancy risk benefit](https://revista.seg-social.es/-/la-prestaci%C3%B3n-por-riesgo-durante-el-embarazo)
- [Social Security magazine: breastfeeding risk benefit](https://revista.seg-social.es/-/prestaci%C3%B3n-por-riesgo-durante-la-lactancia-natural)
- [Social Security: list of mutuas](https://www.seg-social.es/wps/portal/wss/internet/InformacionUtil/39641/)
- [Tu Seguridad Social](https://sede-tu.seg-social.gob.es/)
- [Real Decreto 1273/2003: sick pay for autónomos, days and percentages](https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2003/10/10/1273/con)
- [Resolución de 4 de febrero de 2004: the declaration of the state of your activity](https://www.boe.es/eli/es/res/2004/02/04/(1))
- [Real Decreto-ley 13/2022: fee paid by the mutua after 60 days, leave periods for autónomos](https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2022-12482)
- [Real Decreto-ley 9/2025: 19 weeks of birth leave](https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rdl/2025/07/29/9)
- [Real Decreto 1060/2022: sick notes and review intervals](https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2022/12/27/1060)
- [Basque Government: medical inspectorate](https://www.euskadi.eus/informacion/inspeccion-medica/web01-a2inform/es/)
- [Basque Government: monthly aid for families with children](https://www.euskadi.eus/ayuda_subvencion/2026/ayudas-mensuales-a-familias-con-hijas-o-hijos/web01-tramite/es/)

Next step: [Claim the autónomo unemployment benefit](https://autonomo.eus/steps/cese-actividad.md)

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