Everyone, without regard to gender, should be guaranteed the right to parental leave without discrimination, regardless of the employment sector or the type of contract under which working fathers and mothers are employed.
There are big differences in parental leave rules around the EU, and especially on who is entitled to take it. Public sector employees often have more protection than those in private businesses, and in some member states workers on fixed-term or zero-hour contracts are not always included.
The EU’s common rules on minimum parental leave should be better enforced EU-wide, says the European Parliament in a resolution voted on May 12th. The resolution, drafted by Maria Arena (S&D, BE) was passed by 491 votes to 101, with 38 abstentions.
MEPs call on the Commission and the social partners to extend the minimum duration of unpaid parental leave from 4 to at least 6 months and advocate introducing EU rules on a minimum 2-week paternity leave. The EP looks also forward to detailed rules for granting parental leave to parents of children with a disability or serious or long-term incapacitating illness… Read more
Reconciling Work and Family Life 