6.3.2. Ombudsman’s decisions non favourable to complainants Case Q-2204/16 Entity addressed: Social Security Institute (Instituto da Segurança Social, I.P.) Date: 2016.12.22 Subject: Parental benefits. Length of father’s parental allowance in case of non-shared parental leave and when the mother continues to work uninterruptedly after childbirth The Ombudsman received a complaint from a working father contesting the length of parental allowance granted by Social Security. In fact, the Social Security Institute, gave him 74 days of parental allowance, refusing to grant the 120 days he believed was entitled to. The complainant claimed that the mother of his child was a lawyer and therefore a beneficiary of the lawyers’ special social security scheme (Caixa de Previdência dos Advogados e Solicitadores). Consequently she was not entitled to the parental allowance (maternity allowance) payed by the Social Security Institute and, for that reason, did not take a parental leave, continuing to work uninterruptedly and immediately after giving birth. Based on that fact, the complainant claimed that he was entitled to the entire parental allowance (120 days). The Ombudsman concluded that if parental leave is not shared between the parents (as in this case), the parental allowance can be granted to the father, as long as the mother works and has not applied for the allowance. However, the minimum period of six weeks following delivery is always and necessarily reserved for the mother Accordingly, Ombudsman concluded that the complainant was not entitled to 120 days of parental allowance but only 78 days, as correctly decided by the Social Security Institute. • Case Q-1012/16 Entity addressed: Social Security Institute (Instituto da Segurança Social, I.P.) Date: 2016.05.23 Subject: Access to social benefits by self-employed workers. Full compliance with social security obligations The complainant was a self-employed worker to whom the sickness benefit was denied due to his social security contributions debt. He asked the Ombudsman to intervene with | 131