Paternity leave extended and introduction of additional paternity leave

As of 1 January 2019, the partner’s right to paternity leave (or, more correctly, birth leave) has been extended from two to five days. This fully paid leave must be provided to the mother’s spouse, registered partner, unmarried cohabitee or the person officially acknowledging the child as his/her own (hereafter: “partner”). The five leave days can be taken over a period of four weeks starting from the first day after the day on which the child was born. Employees working part-time are entitled to a prorated part of the five days – the total leave entitlement equals the employee’s working time per week.

As of 1 July 2020, the partner of the mother who has taken out the initial paternity leave is also entitled to additional paternity leave of up to five times the working time per week. This additional paternity leave must be taken in a period of six months starting on the first day after the day of the child’s birth. The additional paternity leave is unpaid by the employer. The employee taking out additional paternity leave will however be entitled to government paid benefits of 70% of their daily wage, capped at 70% of the applicable maximum daily wage for social security purposes. This is a set maximum wage amount which is used as a cap for many social insurance benefits. The current maximum daily wage (level 1 January 2019) is EUR 214,28 gross, resulting in a maximum monthly wage of EUR 4.660,59. Specific rules apply as to when and how the employee must inform the employer about its intention to take out additional paternity leave.

At European level, a new directive on work-life balance for parents and carers has been proposed, under which – if the directive is adopted – partners will be entitled to take out ten days of paternity leave following the child’s birth. The proposal provides that the partner taking out this paternity leave must be paid at sick pay level. The sick pay level differs from country to country. In the Netherlands, the statutory sick pay during the first year of sickness amounts to 70% of the employee’s wage, which 70% must be at least equal to 100% of the applicable minimum wage. If the new directive is indeed adopted, the Netherlands will have to update its new paternity leave legislation.

For more information on this topic, please contact Patrick de Looff.