DEFINITIONS & CRITERIA

Leave rights in c ountries with sharp regional/state variations in entitlements as is the case in Bosnia & Herzegovina or Canada are recorded as for the most generous region/state.

All leave length recorded in the application is calculated in months. A month is calculated to be 4.3 weeks and 30 calendar days; while 4 weeks would be 0.9 months.

Maternity leave.

Definition. Leave generally available to mothers only (except in a few cases where part of the leave can be transferred to other carers under certain circumstances). It is usually understood to be a health and welfare measure, intended to protect the health of the mother and newborn child, and to be taken just before, during and immediately after childbirth.

Mother´s quota. Period of time reserved only for the mother within a Parental leave scheme is not considered as Maternity leave , but as part of Parental leave

Length is calculated as full time after birth, this implies 1) if there is a compulsory period before delivery, this period is deduced (example, Germany, from the 14 weeks right , 6 weeks are before delivery); 2) if it can be taken part time and extended, it is the full period which is computed. T he possibility to take part of the leave part time and extend leave duration is not considered in the leave length calculation.

Private/public sector. If there are separate schemes for both types of employees, the regulation provided in the application is the private sector one

Paternity leave.

Definition. Leave generally available to fathers only, usually to be taken soon after the birth of a child and intended to enable the father to spend time with his partner, new child and older children.

Father ´s quota. Period reserved only for the father within a Parental leave scheme is not considered as Paternity leave , but as part of Parental leave . In Norway and Sweden however an additional period of leave is acknowledged to the other partner or carer after birth or adoption. Luxembourg has no paternity leave as such but a leave called “for extraordinary circumstances ” for employees in case of parenthood of 10 working days paid mostly by the State ; this leave is considered is equivalent to paternity le ave.

Parental leave.

Definition. Leave available equally to mothers and fathers, either as: (i) a non transferable individual right (i.e. both parents have an entitlement to an equal amount of leave); or (ii) an individual right that can be transferred to the other parent; or (iii) a family right that parents can divide between themselves as they choose. In some countries, Parental leave consists only of non transferable individual entitlements; in other countries, it is an entirely family right; while in other countries, part of Parental leave is an individual right, the remainder a family right. It is generally understood to be a care meas ure, intended to give both parents an equal opportunity to spend time caring for a young child; it usually can only be taken after the end of Maternity leave.

In some countries, Parental leave is supplemented by a further period of leave intended also as a care measure, and given various names, such as ‘childcare leave’ or ‘home care leave’ or confusingly as in Iceland ‘parental leave’. This leave is for parents following the end of Parental leave, so it is not included in this application as such, though i t may not in practice be very different to Parental leave (although the conditions attached to the two types of leave may vary, see for example Finland or Norway).

Length. As in the other leave types, it Is also calculated as full time, ie, if it can be taken part time and extended, it is the full period which is computed E xample: in Belgium and Croatia, each parent has right to 4 months parental leave, so 8 months are recorded though parents can use this right on a part time basis and extend leave dura tion However, in the cases of Norway and Portugal, who foresee the possibility to extend leave length reducing the replacement rate from 100 to 80 per cent, the recorded length corresponds to the one with 80 per cent benefit.

Bonus. When leave provisions provide additional time to those parents who share at least a specified period of time (example, Germany, Italy or Portugal), the length recorded in the application corresponds to the regular time plus the bonus.

Transferability. Where Parental leave is an individual right, but some part is transferable to the other partner, this period is considered as a family right.

 

DEFINITIONS AND CRITERIA - PDF