The new ‘work life balance’ Directive was published in the OJEU on 12 July. Now EU Members have until 02 August 2022 to align their own national legislation to this new EU text that requires a part of parental leave to be ‘remunerated’/’compensated’ and introduces a minimum 10-day paid paternal leave period as well as a carer leave period (unpaid) of 5 days. The text also adds flexibility to working time arrangements for parents and carers.
The right to parental leave has been an EU right since 1996 when an initial Directive intended for the principle of parental leave and guaranteed equal treatment of parents who took up their rights and protecting them from employment termination based on grounds of taking up this right. Parental leave rights were then bolstered in 2010 with EU Directive 2010/18, albeit without securing the outcomes that had been sought, namely that both parents fairly share responsibility for the family. This new text attempts to go even further in this regard, introducing the principle of remuneration/compensation for this leave period as well as two new types of leave periods.
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