The European Social Partners have agreed to revise the 1995 Framework Agreement on Parental Leave by increasing the length of parental leave from three to four months.
And to encourage a more equal take-up of leave by both parents, at least one of the four months has to be provided on a non-transferable basis in the hope that fathers actually take the leave because they cannot transfer it to their partner.
The deal applies to "all workers, men and women who have an employment contract or employment relationship” as defined by the law. This therefore includes part-time workers, fixed-term contract workers and agency workers.
The agreement also states that workers returning from parental leave have the right to return to the same job or to an equivalent position "consistent with their employment contract or employment relationship".
In order to ensure that workers can exercise their right to parental leave, member states and/or social partners have to protect workers against less favourable treatment or dismissal if they exercise their right to take parental leave.
Workers returning from parental leave must also have the right to request changes to their working hours and/or patterns for a set period of time. Employers have to consider and respond to such requests, taking into account both employers’ and workers’ needs.
It is not clear as yet when the agreement will become law but it could take anything up to about three years.
Currently parents in the UK are entitled to take up to 13 weeks unpaid parental leave for each child up to their fifth birthday, but as this is an individual right one parent cannot transfer leave to the other.
To read the agreement in full, go to:
www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf_Framework_agreement_parental_leave_revised__18062009.pdf