In recent days, a bill was announced introducing a new entitlement for parents – additional maternity leave. However, this will only be available to some parents – it applies (primarily) to premature babies.
So what conditions will need to be met?
First of all, be a parent of a child - this means that not only the mother, but also the father raising the child can take advantage of this leave.
According to media reports, the following persons will be entitled to leave:
a. employees – parents of children born before the 28th week of pregnancy or with a birth weight of no more than 1000 g,
b. employees – parents of children born after the 28th week of pregnancy but before the 36th week of pregnancy and with a birth weight of more than 1000 g, and
c. employees – parents of children born after the 36th week of pregnancy, whose child will require hospitalization from the 5th day after delivery until the 8th week after delivery. In such a case, additional maternity leave will be granted in the amount of one week of additional maternity leave (depending on the number of days the child is in hospital, i.e. for each week the child is in hospital from the 5th day after delivery to the 8th week after delivery, provided that the child is in hospital for at least 2 consecutive days from the 5th to the 28th day after delivery).
Length of leave and amount of benefit
Interestingly, the duration itself will depend on the child's birth weight, the week of pregnancy in which the child is born or the period of the child's hospitalization, but not more than, depending on the group to which the parent belongs, 8 or 15 weeks.
It's worth noting that this leave must be taken immediately after maternity leave. Parents will be required to use it in its entirety immediately, and for this period, they will receive an allowance equal to 100% of its base amount.
Protection against dismissal
It is also important that the employee will be protected against dismissal during this period - because in this case the provisions on the protection of employees during the period of exercising parental rights will apply.
Of course, at this point the project is only a proposal, which may change during the work in the Sejm – so it is worth following its further legislative path.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of June 6, 2024
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