Parental leave 2022: what are you entitled to? | kek mama

What is parental leave?

This is the leave that any parent who cares for a child under the age of eight can take. As a result, you temporarily work less, so that you can take care of the children. Do you have adopted, step or foster children? You can also take parental leave in that case.

What are your rights?

You are entitled to parental leave once per child and you can take it whenever you want – for example you can take it all in one go over a short period or spread it out over a longer period. The duration of the leave depends on the number of hours you work: you can take 26 times the number of hours you work per week. Example: if you work 32 hours a week, you are entitled to 26 x 32 = 832 hours of parental leave. In theory, this means that you can work one day a week less for two years. Or you work half your ‘normal’ hours for six months. With twins, you are entitled to two parental leave.

Good to know: to be eligible for parental leave, you must have been employed for at least one year. Do you become unemployed in the meantime? Then the parental leave ends on the first day of your unemployment.

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How do you request it?

Parental leave must be requested in writing from your employer at least two months in advance. In the request you must indicate when and how you want to classify it. Your employer may not refuse this request, as long as the company is not affected by your leave. Is this the case? In that case, the employer must make a different proposal in consultation with you.

Do you continue to be paid during the leave?

At the moment, unless otherwise agreed in the collective labor agreement, you will not receive continued payment during parental leave. It is possible, however, that you are entitled to (higher) allowances during parental leave, because your income decreases. If you become ill during the leave, the employer only pays for the hours that you would work. A new European directive will apply from 2 August 2022. Anyone who takes parental leave from that moment on will be partially paid for the first nine weeks. During that period, parents receive a UWV benefit consisting of 50 percent of their daily wage. The condition is that you include those nine weeks in the child’s first year of life. Did you have a child before the amendment of the law, but is he still younger than one year old? Then you can also take paid parental leave. In that case, you must be an employee and have not yet taken all your leave days. Do you have adopted or foster children under the age of eight? Paid parental leave is also possible in that case. This must be included in the first year after adoption or placement.

What are the rights of the partner?

Your partner is entitled to partner leave if he or she has acknowledged the child. Partners are given birth leave once the number of working hours per week. For example, does your partner work 6 hours a day for 5 days? Then he or she gets 30 hours of leave: 5 x 6 working hours. The employer continues to pay the wages in full during this leave. You can take these leave days at your own discretion, but it must be within four weeks of the birth of your child.

Since 1 July 2020, partners can take up to five weeks of additional birth leave. They will then receive a benefit amounting to 70 percent of their daily wage up to a maximum of 70 percent of the maximum daily wage. You must take these leave weeks within six months of the birth of your child.

Source: Central government, Consumers’ Association