Around the birth of a child several forms of leave exist side by side: birth leave for the partner, additional birth leave, and parental leave, part of which has been paid by the UWV since 2022.
Legal basis
The Work and Care Act contains the schemes. The partner is entitled to birth leave of one week’s working hours, paid in full by the employer, to be taken within four weeks of the birth. In addition there is additional birth leave of up to five weeks, to be taken within six months, with a UWV benefit of seventy per cent of the daily wage up to the maximum. Parental leave amounts to twenty-six times the weekly working hours per child, to be taken until the child is eight. Since 2 August 2022 nine of those weeks are paid, provided they are taken in the child’s first year, at seventy per cent of the daily wage. Pregnancy and maternity leave of sixteen weeks in total is separate. Article 7:670(7) of the Civil Code prohibits dismissal because leave is taken.
How it works in practice
Leave is requested in writing, in principle two months in advance. The employer may change the requested spread on grounds of a weighty business interest, but not the extent of the right. The UWV benefit is claimed through the employer. For paid parental leave the timing is critical, because entitlement is tied to the child’s first year.
Where it goes wrong
Employees plan the nine paid weeks too late and lose the benefit. A second error is assuming that taking leave may affect appraisal or bonus; that is prohibited discrimination. Third, for part-time leave the effect on pension accrual and holiday accrual is not properly calculated.
Related terms
Leave connects to holiday entitlement, the collective labour agreement and the system of dismissal prohibitions.
Is leave being refused or miscalculated? Our employment law specialists set out the entitlements.
