By: HUB’s EB Global Benefits Team

Much regulations surrounding paternity, parental, and carers' leave, as well as the right to flexible working arrangements have recently emerged throughout Europe. The new rules aim to comply with the EU Work-Life Balance for parents and Carers Directive. The following is a round-up of the legislation enacted in selected countries.

Luxembourg

Employees can now take 5 days of paid carers' leave to care for immediate family members and cohabitants with serious medical needs.

Paid paternity leave now extends to the second parent in same-sex couples and applies to natural birth parents, foster parents, and adopting parents.

Employees who are parents or caregivers of children under age 9 can request flexible work arrangements, such as telework, flexible hours, or reduced hours.

Portugal

Employees living with a disabled child, or a child under age 3, can request a telework arrangement.

Already generous parental leaves will be extended for an additional 90 days per parent if combined with part-time work. Parents will receive 20% of their reference remuneration from Social Security, in addition to their part-time salary. Certain rules apply for utilization of the parental leaves.

Ireland

Employees can request flexible working arrangements if they have caring responsibilities for a child under age 12 (or 16 if the child is disabled), an immediate family member, cohabitating partner, or a person with a serious medical condition who resides with them.

Spain

Existing paid leave entitlements associated with marriage, bereavement, carers', and sickness have been extended to people in civil partnerships.

Reduced working hours can be requested if an employee cares for a relative, extended family member, civil partner, or spouse.

France

In the event of the death of a child under 25, parents are entitled to 14 workdays (up from 7) of paid leave from their employer. If a child has been diagnosed with a chronic disease or has become disabled, parents are entitled to 5 workdays (up from 2) of paid leave from their employer after diagnosis. Parents of sick or disable children can also request to work remotely.

New enhanced protections from employment termination are in place for employees on parental leave, as well as women who are on leave after suffering a miscarriage.

How this impacts you

  • Companies will incur additional manpower costs for the expanded leave provisions and alternative working arrangements.
  • Companies will experience additional compliance costs and administrative efforts.
  • The new laws may limit companies’ flexibility to manage production teams and schedules as more employees request flexible and remote work.

Next steps

  • Employers should update their HR policies and procedures and communicate them to their employees.
  • Employers should train their HR staff and line managers on the new laws so that they can organize work, answer employee questions and process leave requests accurately.
  • Employers should review their budget to incorporate the additional costs of extended paid parental leave and carer’s leave entitlements.
  • Employers should review their flexible work arrangement policies to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of the new regulations.
  • Unionized companies should adjust their collective bargaining agreement strategies.

If you have any questions, please contact your HUB Advisor. View more updates in our Global Benefits Directory.