Supreme Court equates sick leave to working time for residence permit renewal

The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that a period of temporary disability due to illness (baja médica) counts as active employment when applying for a residence permit renewal. The precedent was set by the case of a domestic worker in Asturias who was denied a document renewal for failing to meet the minimum three-month work requirement.

The court emphasized that taking official sick leave does not terminate the employment relationship, but only temporarily suspends the contract. Since the temporary disability benefit is paid from the social security system based on previous contributions, the employee remains legally registered in the system.

This ruling establishes an important precedent: an illness or accident cannot be grounds for denying the renewal of a work residency. Time spent on sick leave is now legally equivalent to performing work duties.