In a victory for equality — or maybe just a slap at poorly written laws — a court in Spain has ruled that a law meant to give women time off from work to breast feed their babies applies to men as well.
A regional court in central Spain has ordered the Labor Ministry to refund $200 it had docked from a male employee who missed 34 hours of work under the law. The court also ordered the ministry to pay the man, identified only as Julian M. in court papers, $300 in damages.
In 1997, the man applied for permission to go home for an hour a day to be with his wife, who was on maternity leave, and their infant girl. He cited a 1984 civil service law, normally invoked by mothers, granting such breaks to government employees with babies 9 months old or less. The court ruled that the law did not distinguish between male and female employees with infants.
