New parental leave regulations came into force as of 26 April 2023. Additional parental leave may be taken by employees who, between 2 August 2022 and 26 April 2023:

• were on parental leave or part thereof, e.g. if the parental leave of the employee mother ended in the aforementioned period, the employee father will be entitled to take additional weeks of parental leave;
• were entitled to parental leave or part thereof, e.g. the employee used only part of the parental leave, and left the remaining amount to be used “later.” Thus, on the effective date of the act, he/she was not on parental leave but was entitled to it. In this case, additional leave may be granted to parents whose children were born even in 2017.

Increased parental leave is granted to both parents, depending on how it was previously taken. If the employee mother has used all of her entitlement, only the employee father will be able to take advantage of the additional weeks. However, if the parents shared parental leave, e.g. the mother used 16 weeks and the father used 16 weeks, they will be entitled to the additional amount equally. The use will be decided by how many parts are left for the parents to use. Parental leave can be granted in up to 5 parts.

Increased parental leave will also be available to employee parents who have a certificate under the "pro-life" act.

Find more in the PRO HR June 2023