| Australia |
Unpaid parental leave is for one year, and can be taken by one parent or shared
between both parents. To qualify, an individual must have over one
year's continuous service with the same employer. |
| Austria |
Parental leave is for up to two years from the
time of birth or can be used to reduce hours, subject to employer's
agreement until the child is four. Leave can only be transferred
once between parents. A flat-rate allowance is available for working
couples during parental leave. This is funded by the State. Parents
must have been employed at least 52 weeks in the previous 24
months (or 26 weeks in 12 months if parent is under 25)
to claim the allowance. Those who do not meet the eligibility
criteria may claim half the benefit. |
| Belgium |
Each parent is able to take full-time parental
leave for three months or to reduce hours for six months up to
the child's fourth birthday. Parental leave is paid by the State at
a flat rate. If the child is adopted or disabled, leave can be taken
during the seven-year period after adoption or until the child is
eight. |
| Canada |
Families get a right to parental leave for ten weeks.
This is paid by unemployment insurance where the family is eligible
for unemployment benefits. |
| Denmark |
Ten weeks of paid parental leave are available
to either parent until the child is eight. Fathers are entitled to
an additional two weeks. Leave can be extended to 52 weeks with the
employer's agreement, as employees have the right to return to the
same job. Parental leave is paid by the state at a flat-rate equivalent
to unemployment benefit. In addition, 13 weeks of childcare leave
is available for parents with children under eight (26 weeks if the
child is under one or recently adopted). Childcare leave is paid up
to 60% of maximum rate of unemployment benefit. |
| Finland |
Parental leave of 26 weeks can be shared between
parents after maternity leave and has to be taken in blocks of at
least 12 days. It can also be used to reduce working hours until the
child is seven. Parental leave is paid by the State, with the level
dependent on previous earnings. Care leave can be taken up to the
child's third birthday, in blocks of at least one month. There is
a basic payment of a home care allowance for care leave. |
| France |
Parental leave of up to three years from the time
of birth is available to families, if they have had one year's
service with the same employer. This can be extended by one year if
the child is ill or disabled. Parental leave can be used to work half-time.
This leave is unpaid, although a flat-rate state benefit is available
to parents with at least two children. |
| Germany |
Parental leave of up to three years from
the time of birth can be taken by either parent or shared, or three
years after adoption of a child, if the child is under eight when
adopted. It can be alternated up to three times. This leave is unpaid,
unless family income falls below a certain level, when they become
eligible for a state benefit until the child's second birthday. They
are also able to work up to 19 hours per week for another employer
while on leave, provided that the new employer is not a competitor
or previous employer. |
| Greece |
Parental leave is available until the child is two
and a half or by collective agreement until the child is three and
a half. To be eligible, employees must have over one year's service
and work for a firm with more than 50 employees. Employees on parental
leave have to pay social security contributions while on leave. Employers
may refuse leave if it has been claimed by more than eight per cent
of the workforce during the year. |
| Ireland |
Ireland gives each parent 14 weeks' unpaid parental
leave per child until the child is five. |
| Italy |
Parental leave of ten months is available for each
parent to be taken at any time until child is eight (extended to eleven
months if the father takes at least three months). This is paid by
the State at 30% of normal earnings. They can also use parental leave
to shorten the working hours by two hours per day during
the child's first year. |
| Luxembourg |
Each parent is entitled to six months' full-time
leave, or 12 months' part-time leave until the child is five. A flat-rate
benefit can be paid to one parent. |
| Netherlands |
Parents are allowed to take six months' leave
until the child is a maximum of eight years old. Parents are entitled
to reduce their working hours for a period of six months at any time
until the child's eighth birthday. This reduction in hours is unpaid,
unless reduced hours take a lone parent below social assistance level.
Employees must have worked for their employer for one year prior
to taking parental leave. From 2001, there will be tax incentives
for employers who pay for the leave at 70% or more of previous earnings. |
| New Zealand |
Unpaid parental leave of up to one year can
be taken by families. Parents must have been employed by the same
employer for at least 12 months, working at least ten hours per week.
Parents taking up to four weeks' leave have a statutory right to return
to their previous job. However, if an employer decided the job is
a key position, then the employee has no right of return, although
any similar jobs arising in the following 6-month period must be offered
to the employee. |
| Norway |
Parental leave of up to 52 weeks is available to
families, although four weeks of this must be taken by the father.
This leave is paid by the state at 100% of wages for 42 weeks or 80%
of wages for 52 weeks. If the parent was unemployed prior to
taking parental leave, they receive a daily minimum benefit. Parents
are allowed to use some of their parental leave to reduce working
hours until the child is at school. |
| Portugal |
Six to twenty four months of parental leave are
available with the first 98 days being paid maternity leave. The remainder
of parental leave is unpaid. It can be taken until the child
is three years full-time or 12 part-time. It can be increased
to three years on the birth of a third child. Parental leave is available
to all employees who have worked for their current employer for more
than six months. |
| Spain |
Parental leave is a family right. Unpaid parental
leave can be taken up to the child's third birthday if taken
on a full-time basis or used to reduce working hours up to half time
until the child's sixth birthday if taken part-time. Employees taking
parental leave have the right to return to their previous job during
the first year; otherwise, they can return to an equivalent job. |
| Sweden |
Parental leave of a period of 12 months is available
to parents, one month of which must be taken by each parent. Parental
leave is paid by the state for 360 days at 80% of earnings (subject
to upper earnings limit) and 90 days at a flat-rate, if the parent
has been employed for at least 270 days before childbirth or if not
more than 30 months have elapsed since the birth of an earlier child.
Leave can be taken on either a full-time or part-time basis, reducing
working hours to six hours per day until their child is eight years
old. There is no benefit for the related loss of earnings. |
| USA |
Each individual has the right to 12 weeks' unpaid leave
for family and medical leave, including parental leave. To qualify,
they must have worked 1,250 hours in the last year and have been employed
for at least one year in a firm with more than 50 employees. |
