Work-life balance for parents and carers

 

SUMMARY OF:

Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

• It seeks to ensure gender equality with respect to labour market opportunities and treatment at work throughout the EU by facilitating the work-life balance for workers who are parents or carers.
• It sets out minimum requirements for family-related leaves (paternity, parental and carers’ leave) and flexible working arrangements.
• It seeks to increase women’s participation in the labour market and to achieve a better sharing of caring responsibilities between men and women.
• It creates incentives for men to assume an equal share of caring responsibilities by creating paid paternity and parental leave which is one of the reasons of the low take-up of leave by fathers.
• The imbalance in the design of work-life balance policies between women and men reinforces gender stereotypes and differences between work and care. Policies on equal treatment should aim to address the issue of stereotypes in both men's and women's occupations and roles.

KEY POINTS

Scope

• The directive relates to all men and women who have an employment contract or an employment relationship as defined by the law, collective agreements or practice in force in each EU country, taking into account the case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU.

Minimum rights

The directive provides for minimum individual rights related to the following:

• paternity leave, parental leave and carers’ leave;
• flexible working arrangements for workers who are parents, or carers; and
• legal protection for those applying for or making use of family-related leave and flexible working arrangements.

EU countries may choose to introduce or maintain rules that are more favourable to workers.

Paternity leave

• Fathers or equivalent second parents have the right to take paternity leave of 10 working days on the birth of a child.
• Paternity leave has to be paid at the national sick pay level.
• The right to paternity leave must not be made subject to a period of work qualification or to a length of service qualification.
• EU countries may make the right to a payment or an allowance subject to periods of previous employment, which must not exceed 6 months immediately prior to the expected date of the birth of the child.

Parental leave

• Each worker has an individual right to 4 months’ paid parental leave, 2 months of which are non-transferable between the parents.
• At least 2 months of parental leave per parent need to be paid at an adequate level.
• EU countries may make the right to parental leave subject to a period of work qualification or to a length of service qualification, which must not exceed 1 year.
• EU countries must ensure that workers have the right to request that they take parental leave in a flexible way, such as on a part-time basis, or in alternating periods of leave separated by periods of work.

Carers’ leave

• The directive introduces rules for carers, namely workers caring for relatives requiring support due to serious medical reasons. These rules also cover care for a person who lives in the same household as the worker.
• Each carer is entitled to take 5 working days per year.

Flexible working arrangements

• Workers with children up to a specified age, but at least 8, and carers have the right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes.
• These arrangements include the use of remote working arrangements, flexible working schedules, or a reduction in working hours.
• Employers must deal with these requests within a reasonable period of time and provide reasons for refusing or postponing such arrangements.
• EU countries may make the right to request flexible working arrangements subject to a period of work qualification or to a length of service qualification. This period must not exceed 6 months.

Legal protection

EU countries must introduce rules to ensure:

• workers are protected from discrimination and dismissal on the grounds that they have applied for, or have taken, family-related leave or flexible working arrangements;
• workers who consider that they have been dismissed on the basis that they have exercised such rights should be able to ask the employer to provide duly substantiated grounds for the dismissal;
• the previous job and the rights acquired or in the process of being acquired before leave by the worker are maintained after the leave.

Repeal

The directive repeals Directive 2010/18/EU on parental leave from 2 August 2022.

FROM WHEN DOES THE DIRECTIVE APPLY?

It has applied since 1 August 2019 and has to become law in the EU countries by 2 August 2022 (except for the payment of the last 2 weeks of parental leave, for which the deadline is 2 August 2024).

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

• Work-life balance (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU (OJ L 188, 12.7.2019, pp. 79-93)

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Council Directive 2010/18/EU of 8 March 2010 implementing the revised Framework Agreement on parental leave concluded by BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP and ETUC and repealing Directive 96/34/EC (OJ L 68, 18.3.2010, pp. 13-20)

Successive amendments to Directive 2010/18/EU have been incorporated into the original document. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Council Directive 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding (tenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (OJ L 348, 28.11.1992, pp. 1-7)

See consolidated version.

last update 24.02.2020