Government wants parents to take 14 consecutive days of leave after the birth of their child

The Government wants to introduce changes to the exclusive parental leave for fathers, in order to require them to take 14 consecutive days immediately after the birth of their child, according to the draft document submitted to social partners to which Lusa had access.

At issue is a proposed amendment to Article 43 of the Labour Code, referring to exclusive parental leave for fathers, which provides that it will become mandatory for “fathers to take 28 days of parental leave, consecutively or in interpolated periods, within 42 days of the birth of the child, 14 of which must be taken consecutively immediately after the birth”.

Currently, the law requires parents to take at least seven days off after the birth of their child.

“Fathers are required to take 28 days of parental leave, consecutively or in interpolated periods of at least 7 days, within the 42 days following the birth of the child, 7 of which must be taken consecutively immediately after this”, according to the current law.

Among the more than 100 amendments to the Labor Code contained in the preliminary draft reform of labor legislation submitted to the social partners and which will still be negotiated in the context of social dialogue are changes to various types of leave, such as adoption leave, initial parental leave or leave for breastfeeding.

Regarding leave for termination of pregnancy, provided for in Article 38 of the Labor Code, the Government wants to allow it to be considered an absence for assistance to the worker's companion in these circumstances.

“The worker's companion is subject to the absence regime for assistance to a member of the household, as provided for in Article 252,” reads the draft bill submitted to the social partners, to which Lusa had access.

According to current law, “in the event of termination of pregnancy, the worker is entitled to leave lasting between 14 and 30 days”, and any violation of this right constitutes a very serious offence.

Regarding absence due to assistance, the law provides that the worker may miss work “up to 15 days per year to provide urgent and essential assistance, in case of illness or accident, to a spouse or person living in a de facto union or common economy with the worker, relative or in-law in the direct ascending line or in the 2nd degree of the collateral line”.

On Thursday, the Government approved, in the Council of Ministers, a preliminary draft of a "profound reform" of labor legislation, which will be negotiated with social partners, and includes reviewing "more than a hundred articles of the Labor Code."

The reform, called "Trabalho XXI", aims to make labor regimes "that are very rigid" more flexible, in order to increase the "competitiveness of the economy and promote the productivity of companies", as indicated by the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, at a press conference, after the Council of Ministers.