Introduction
Maternity leave
Paternal leave
Parental leave
Childcare leave
Salary and dismissal
Informing employers about family leave
A new system that covers various types of leave for family-related purposes will come into effect on 1 August 2022. A key highlight is that the reform will enhance the possibility for fathers to spend more time at home with their children.
The old rules will still apply if the leave began before the effective date. Further, the new rules will apply only where childbirth is expected on 4 September 2022 or later. The rules will also apply to parents of adopted children, provided that they receive custody on or after 1 August 2022.
Maternity leave has decreased from 105 workdays to 40 workdays. Saturdays are still considered as workdays when calculating the duration of any family leave; therefore, the new maternity leave now lasts approximately one and half months in comparison to the old maternity leave, which lasted four months. Maternity leave must be taken as a single continuous period of 40 workdays and is available only to the newborn's mother.
The timing of maternity leave remains unchanged, which means that the employee should start the maternity leave 30 working days before the estimated due date of the baby. However, the employer and the employee may agree to reduce this period, provided that the maternity leave starts at least 14 days before the estimated due date.
Under the old system, fathers were entitled to a maximum of 54 workdays of paternity leave, of which 18 could be taken while the mother was on maternity leave or parental leave. The reform has abolished this system and factored any type of family leave into the father's parental leave quota.
Under the old system, the duration of parental leave was 158 workdays, which parents could share. In the new system, the total duration of parental leave is more than double, with both parents being given a quota of 160 workdays. However, one of the parents may transfer up to 63 days of their parental leave quota to the other parent, but they must take the 97 remaining days themselves.
The right to parental leave is not gender-specific and, therefore, it applies to same-sex parents.
A single parent is allowed to use the full parental leave allotment that would normally be available for both parents together. Accordingly, a single parent is entitled to 360 workdays of leave.
The employee's right to childcare leave remains unchanged and is available to employees until their child turns three years old. It is offered as two separate leave periods and may be taken by both parents. If the employee wishes to take more than two periods of childcare leave, they must arrange this with their employer.
Employees are entitled to be away from their work duties during family leave. Their contract remains effective, therefore, and there is special protection against dismissal. When the family leave ends, the employee is entitled to return to the same role.
However, employers are not obliged to pay employees during family leave periods. Instead, employees are entitled to a family allowance from the government. The family allowance is determined based on the employee's annual income. At the lowest salary levels, the allowance is approximately 70% of the employee's regular salary. This decreases as the income level increases. The rate for employees who earn €85,000 annually, for example, will be calculated at 50%.
Many collective agreements stipulate that the ordinary salary entitlement applies during the first three months of maternity leave and during the first week of paternity leave. In light of the reform, the obligation to pay salaries during family leave will continue to apply to the first three months of family leave that the mother takes and the first six days that the father takes. This may cause trade unions to advocate for more pay equality between mothers and fathers, given the balance that the reform will implement elsewhere.
Informing employers about family leave
Employees must notify their employer about upcoming family leave at least two months in advance. However, if the employee will be absent from work for 12 days or less, the notification must be given only one month in advance. The notification period may also be shortened to a minimum of one month if the employee could not have notified the employer sooner because their situation has changed as a result of the other parent returning to work sooner than anticipated. However, in such cases the employer may deny the employee's right to start family leave and require that the employee observes the ordinary two months' notice period if their sudden departure could harm business operations.
Once the employee has notified the employer about upcoming family leave, the employee may change their plans for a justifiable reason only. The employee must notify the employer about the changes at least one month in advance.
For further information on this topic please contact Jouni Kautto at Waselius & Wist by telephone (+358 9 668 9520) or email ([email protected]). The Waselius & Wist website can be accessed at www.ww.fi.