{"id":15432,"date":"2026-05-21T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/?p=15432"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:26:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:26:33","slug":"constitutional-court-recognizes-enhanced-labor-protection-during-paternity-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/constitutional-court-recognizes-enhanced-labor-protection-during-paternity-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"Constitutional Court Recognizes Enhanced Labor Protection During Paternity Leave"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Constitutional Court Recognizes Enhanced Labor Protection During Paternity Leave<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Article 29 of the Organic Law on the Right to Human Care (\u201cLODCH\u201d) already recognizes \u201cspecial protection\u201d against termination of employment during paternity leave, providing that: \u201cWorkers and public servants during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum periods shall have special protection until the end of paid or unpaid maternity, paternity<\/strong>, adoption, and breastfeeding leave under any type of contract or appointment in the public sector, and contracts in the private sector.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Constitutional Court Decision:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Through Judgment No. 1150-23-JP\/26 dated April 16, 2026<\/strong>, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador developed binding jurisprudence regarding enhanced labor protection for working fathers during the exercise of paternity leave.<\/p>\n

The Court determined that paternity leave \u201cdoes not constitute an accessory benefit, but rather an instrument that enables the effective exercise of parental responsibilities and the right to care,\u201d <\/em>and that it \u201cforms part of the care system and reflects the principle of shared parental responsibility.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Regarding the extension of enhanced labor protection to fathers, the Court reasoned that although this guarantee was historically designed for pregnant and breastfeeding women, \u201cone of the main purposes of this protection is to ensure the best interests of children, guaranteeing that they receive effective care from their parental figures during crucial stages of their development. This objective does not exclude [\u2026] the possibility that such protection may also extend to the exercise of fatherhood.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Additionally, the Court stated that \u201cshared responsibility becomes unfeasible if the exercise of caregiving exposes the father to job loss or income instability,\u201d<\/em> and that \u201cextending this protection to fathers prevents caregiving from continuing to be a factor that penalizes only women.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Scope of Protection<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Court clarified that this protection \u201coperates automatically during its validity \u2014currently fifteen days\u2014 and guarantees a minimum level of job stability during that period.<\/em><\/u><\/strong> This guarantee does not depend on discretionary assessments by the employer, but is activated solely by the legitimate exercise of the leave.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Likewise, the Court established that the protection<\/strong> \u201cis not satisfied by the mere formal continuity of the employment relationship, but requires the full preservation of its conditions,\u201d including the prohibition of \u201cchanges in remuneration, loss of hierarchy, or modifications to duties,\u201d and even the prohibition of merely \u201cnotifying during the leave\u201d decisions that affect employment conditions.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Consequences of Termination During the Paternity Leave Period<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Court established the following general rule:<\/p>\n

\u201c72. When this protection is violated or the leave period is disrupted \u2014whether through termination decisions, substantial deterioration of working conditions, or even notification thereof during its validity\u2014<\/u><\/strong> such actions constitute violations of constitutional rights. In such cases, THE APPROPRIATE MEASURE TO REMEDY THE VIOLATION IS REINSTATEMENT TO THE POSITION UNDER THE CONDITIONS EXISTING PRIOR to the violation or, where materially impossible, to an equivalent position in hierarchy and remuneration. <\/u><\/strong>Economic compensation, on the other hand, is not the rule, but rather an exceptional measure applicable only when reinstatement is not feasible or is not suitable to fully remedy the violation, either because the employee does not wish it or because it is currently impossible to restore the relationship under equivalent conditions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Discrimination for Exercising Paternity Rights<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Court concluded that dismissal motivated by the use of paternity leave constitutes indirect discrimination, stating that \u201cwhen the administration adopts dismissal decisions based on the use of leave or on the natural effects of such absences, this constitutes, among other things, a constitutionally prohibited distinction\u201d<\/em> that \u201csimultaneously undermines the rights to work, care, and responsible fatherhood.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Decision<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Court declared the violation of the rights \u201cto equality and non-discrimination, to work in its dimension of enhanced labor protection due to paternity and to care, as well as the violation of the best interests of the claimant\u2019s daughter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Observation Regarding Compensation<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is important to note that this judgment does not expressly establish<\/strong> compensation equivalent to twelve salaries. The rule established by the Court is that the primary remedy is REINSTATEMENT and, subsidiarily, economic compensation determined \u201cin equity\u201d according to the severity of the violation (paragraph 101).<\/p>\n

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Should you require additional information, please contact: laboral@bustamantefabara.com<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tConstitutional Court Recognizes Enhanced Labor Protection During Paternity Leave\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tLeer m\u00e1s \u00bb\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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Constitutional Court Recognizes Enhanced Labor Protection During Paternity Leave Background: Article 29 of the Organic Law on the Right to Human Care (\u201cLODCH\u201d) already recognizes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":15430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulletin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15432"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15436,"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15432\/revisions\/15436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bustamantefabara.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}