Grant for pregnant autónomas in the Valencia region: up to €4,000 for hiring before leave

In short: one grant for pregnant autónomas (self-employed women) in the Valencian Community is the LABORA programme (LABORA is the Generalitat employment service) to help self-employed women keep their business going. It pays €1,500 or €3,500 to a pregnant or adopting autónoma who hires an unemployed person before her maternity leave, to teach them the business. If the new hire is a woman or a person with a disability, it is €500 more. The 2026 call is open online only until 20 October 2026.

In person or by representative? Online only, through procedure 113116 at the Generalitat electronic office, with an advanced electronic signature: the call asks for a recognised personal digital certificate and does not mention Cl@ve (the state online ID system). A representative can file it if they first registered in the register of representatives of the Valencian Agency for Technology and Electronic Certification (ACCV). An application filed any other way is not admitted.

What it pays (2026 call)

• €1,500: temporary full-time contract of at least 3 months.
• €3,500: temporary full-time contract of at least 6 months.
• €500 more if the person hired is a woman or has a disability, so the maximum is €4,000.
• Part-time counts from 30 hours a week, with the grant reduced in proportion.
• It is paid in a single payment after the award decision.

Who can apply

• Self-employed women who, when they hire, are pregnant or in an adoption process, with their workplace in the Valencian Community.
• Not eligible: partners in commercial companies, cooperatives, civil-law partnerships (sociedades civiles) and worker-owned companies (sociedades laborales); members of joint ownerships (comunidades de bienes); autónomas colaboradoras (family members working in another autónomo's business).
• It is de minimis aid (small public aid that the EU caps at €300,000 per company over 3 years), so primary farming, fishing and aquaculture and export-related activities are excluded.
• You must be up to date with the tax agency, the Generalitat and Social Security; LABORA checks this.

The hire

• When: from 1 January 2026 and before the maternity leave.
• Whom: an unemployed person registered as a job seeker with LABORA until the day of the contract; registering on the start day does not count. How a foreigner registers: registering as a job seeker.
• No relatives: not a relative of the autónoma up to the second degree, by blood or by marriage (for example children, parents, siblings, grandparents, parents-in-law or siblings-in-law), or the equivalent in a registered partnership.
• In writing: with the length in whole months and, if part-time, the weekly hours. Which type of temporary contract fits each case is set by employment law: check with a gestoría (an administrative and tax advisory office).

A short deadline

• Dates: according to the DOGV extract, published on 8 October, the window started at 10:00 on the next day, 9 October. The electronic office and the LABORA website opened it on 13 October at 10:00, and it closes on 20 October 2026 at 23:59.
• Contract first: you apply after the hire and after registering the person with Social Security, never before.
• First come, first served: the money goes in the order complete documents are filed, until €100,000 runs out. That is €39,680 in Alicante province, €11,006 in Castellón and €49,314 in Valencia.
• Up to 6 months for the decision from the application; with no answer in that time, it counts as refused.

After payment

• Keep the contract for at least the 3 or 6 months funded. If the person leaves voluntarily, dies, becomes disabled or is dismissed on disciplinary grounds not declared unfair, they can be replaced within 1 month by someone who meets the same requirements. The replacement is reported within 10 days with the replacements annex (form EMP0655E). If in those cases the person is not replaced, the part of the grant for the remaining time is returned with interest. If the contract ends or is suspended early for another reason, the whole grant is returned with interest.
• Publicity: use the Generalitat logo (LABORA's page has a poster). Within the month after the period ends, file the publicity and transparency declaration (form EMP0608E).
• Keep the documents and tell LABORA about other aid requested for the same purpose. The call says it is compatible with other aid for the same purpose.

Can foreign women or women with temporary protection apply? The 2026 call sets no nationality requirement: it asks for a self-employed worker. Non-EU nationals need a permit that allows self-employment to register as self-employed (see becoming an autónomo as a foreigner). Temporary protection allows it, according to the Ucrania Urgente website of the Ministry of Inclusion. Its TIE is valid until 4 March 2027 (Order INT/96/2026) and the EU extended the protection until 4 March 2028 (Decision (EU) 2026/1912). A 3-month contract signed by 20 October at the latest ends before 4 March 2027. A 6-month one signed after 4 September 2026 ends later, and the Spanish document for after March 2027 has not been issued yet.

Documents

• Online application with the sworn statements (declaraciones responsables): bank account, other aid received, de minimis aid in the last 3 years, equality plan, reserved quota for people with disabilities and grounds that bar a beneficiary.
• Medical certificate of the pregnancy with the expected due date or, for adoption, the suitability declaration from the Generalitat Child Adoption Council (Consejo de Adopción de Menores).
• The employment contract the grant is for.
• Notice to the person hired (form EMP0642E) and the declaration under article 34.5 of the General Subsidies Act (form HOR0026E). Download them from the grant page on the LABORA website, fill them in and sign them on the computer: forms filled in the browser are not saved and are not accepted.
• If relevant, the disability certificate of the person hired or the recognition of their permanent incapacity pension.
• If the bank account is new for the Generalitat, register it first with the bank details procedure.
• LABORA itself checks identity, employment history, the new employee's registration and debts. It also checks their job-seeker registration and the contract notice in Contrat@ (the SEPE system for reporting contracts). If you expressly object to these checks, you provide the documents.

Steps

1. Check that the autónoma was pregnant or in an adoption process when hiring, and that the contract is from 2026 and before the leave.
2. Check that the person hired was registered with LABORA before the day of the contract and is not a relative.
3. Sign the temporary contract (at least 3 or 6 months, full-time or from 30 hours) and register the person with Social Security.
4. Download and sign forms EMP0642E and HOR0026E and gather the medical certificate or the suitability declaration.
5. File the application in procedure 113116 at the electronic office, with a digital certificate, by 20 October 2026 at the latest.
6. Check your electronic notifications: a request for documents must be answered within 10 days.

Other grants to start or keep a business, with their status today, are in the Business & grants section. The reduced contribution for the first year is explained in the card on the flat rate.

Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.