Study of the Figure of the Non - Professional Caregiver. Special Reference to the Right to Permanent Disability. Legal Problems that Arise and Possible Solutions

Abstract

Law 39/2006, of December 14, 2006, gave new recognition to the hitherto "invisible" figure of the non-professional caregiver, referring to the person in the family or environment of the dependent person, who provides non-professional care at home.The non-professional caregiver is the person who is in charge of the care of a family member or close person in a situation of dependency, and does not exercise this activity as a professional activity, as derived from its name, neither on his own account nor on behalf of others, since, as we are going to analyze, he does not meet all the requirements that the law demands for the existence of an employment relationship on behalf of others, such as the alien nature, dependence, remuneration, voluntariness and power of organization of the employer, nor as an employer. In these circumstances, the question that arises in this study is whether the non-professional caregiver can be the beneficiary of a total permanent disability benefit, under the special agreement regulated in Royal Decree 615/2007 and Order TAS/2632/2007. We can affirm that most of the people who are caregivers of dependent persons are women who have performed invisible work over the years, assuming the care of their relatives, without the support of the public administration and within the domestic sphere with no help other than that of the family organization. Hence the importance of the latest legislative reforms that makes these figures visible and gives them some rights.