Paternity Leave
In the United Kingdoms, pregnant women and women who are just about to give birth have many rights that entitle them to time off and paid jobs afterwards. But that leaves the question as to what the fathers, who will for sure also be concerned with their newborn child, get during this hectic time. To address such a matter, there are claims expectant fathers can take to get some help in this matter from their work.
The first thing, as always, to know is whether or not an employee qualifies for the time off. The Paternal Leave Directive of 1999 allows an employee time off as a parent if he meets a couple of conditions. The parent must have worked at his current job for at least one year. The father must then prove he is named as a parent on the birth certificate of a child that was just born, and is younger than five. Alternatively they can show they have just adopted a child who is under eighteen and still qualify. And if he has the responsibility of a parent for a child, who is again under the age of five, he may also ask for such a leave. This leave allows a father to take off up to thirteen weeks from his work without worrying about losing his job during the duration. Unfortunately this leave is not paid.
To rectify the fact that fathers must choose between not making money for a long period of time or not seeing their newborn child enough, a new act in 2003 was made. This act allows a paternity leave of two weeks, that is paid for by employers, after a child is born. The leave can be taken anytime from right after birth to eight weeks after birth. To qualify the man must be expecting a child and needs to let his employer know when the child is due to be born. He must also have been working for the current employer for at least twenty six weeks, or half a year. If the father qualifies and is allowed the leave he is, again, given two weeks of paid time off to stay with his newborn child and wife. He must decide when he wants to take time off during the fifteenth week, this is important, of his wife’s pregnancy. The father gets at least a hundred euros a week during this leave, with most getting ninety percent of their current salary.
Having a newborn child can be stressful on a single parent who has just given birth, so having rights for fathers is important in the United Kingdoms. Through the two acts that exist to give rights for paternity leaves, men can spend time with their families and not have to worry about job security. If an employee is expecting to be a parent soon, it makes natural sense for him to take advantage of these acts and get some time off to help out at home.
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