The government has announced that the EU Work-Life Balance Directive will come into force on August 2, essentially extending paternity leave, introducing paid parental leave and granting parents the right to request flexible hours. Claudia Calleja breaks down how this will work. 

What will happen on August 2?

On August 2, legal notice 201 of 2022, amending the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, will come into force, transposing the EU Work-Life Balance Directive into local law.

In August 2019, all member states were given three years to do so.

The main aim of the directive is to improve access to family leave and flexibility arrangements.

What will the main changes be for Malta?

As from August 2, new fathers will get 10 days paternity leave on full pay as opposed to the current one day.

Two months of the current four-month parental leave will be paid at sick-leave rate. Parents of children under eight can request flexible work. And carers get five days of unpaid additional leave a year to support a sick relative.

How will parental leave work? How is it different to paternity?

Paternity... parental. The spelling similarity can lead to confusion. Paternity leave is for new fathers, who now get 10 days of paid leave to be taken within 15 days of the birth.

Over and above that, both fathers and mothers (the latter benefit from 18 weeks, 14 of which are paid) benefit from parental leave.

Before, each parent got four months unpaid parental leave until the child turned eight. Now they each get two months paid (at sickness rate) and two unpaid. These have to be taken within stipulated timeframes.

I am a gay parent. Does paternity leave apply to my family?

Yes. According to the law, paternity leave means leave from work “for fathers or, where and insofar as recognised by national law, for equivalent second parents, on the occasion of the birth or the adoption of a child for the purposes of providing care”.

I am a parent of a child under eight. Can I benefit from paid parental leave?

No. This only applies to new births after August 2. You can benefit from unpaid parental leave as per the current system.

What exactly is meant by flexible work? Who is entitled to it?

Workers with children up to the age of eight years, and carers, have the right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes.

The law defines “flexible working arrangements”  as the possibility for workers to “adjust their working patterns, including through the use of remote working arrangements, flexible working schedules or reduced working hours”.

As a parent, can I apply for carer leave?

Yes. A parent can make use of carer leave to look after a sick child. The law is confusing on the matter since carer leave is described as applicable to serious illness. However, a government spokesman clarified that a parent can make use of carer leave to care for a child even in the case of a cold.

Carers may benefit from five days of unpaid leave each year and will have to provide proof to their employer.

What if my boss refuses to grant me leave or flexible work?

The law says that, should a dispute arise between an employer and an employee, they can take the matter to the Director General of Employment and  Industrial Relations. Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any provision will be guilty of an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of €2,000.

Workers with children up to the age of eight years, and carers, have the right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes

Malta on the low side for paternity leave

One of the major changes being brought about on August 2 is the extension of paternity leave. Malta opted for the minimum of 10 days. Here’s what some other EU countries offer.

Sweden: Parents in Sweden are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave. Each parent is entitled to 240 of those days. If the child is born in 2016 or later, each parent has 90 days reserved exclusively. Should they decide not to take these, they can’t be transferred to the partner. A single parent is entitled to a full 480 days.

The Netherlands: Paternity benefit in The Netherlands is of six weeks. For the first week,  the leave is paid and, for the following five weeks, they get a benefit at 70 per cent of the daily wage to be taken in the first six months after the birth. 

Spain: In Spain, each parent gets 16 weeks of paid leave. The first six weeks of leave are compulsory after birth. The remaining 10 weeks are to be taken within a year of birth.

Lithuania: In Lithuania, paternity benefit is paid to the father for 30 calendar days after the child's birth with the possibility of choosing when to receive the benefit until the child is one year old.

Italy: In Italy, paternity leave is 10 days at full pay and is compulsory, plus one day unpaid. Both compulsory and optional leave must be claimed within five months after the child’s birth and don’t need to be consecutive.

Ireland: Paternity leave in Ireland is two weeks paid and must be taken within six months of the birth or adoption of the child.

Finland: Paternity leave in Finland is of 54 days. Fathers can choose to stay at home for one to 18 days at the same time as the child’s mother. The rest of the paternity leave can be taken in a maximum of two separate periods after the parental allowance has ended.

Greece: In Greece, fathers can take up to 14 days of employer-paid paternity leave upon the birth or adoption of a child.

Cyprus: Paternity allowance is paid to fathers for a period of two consecutive weeks between the week of confinement (when the baby is due) and the following 16 weeks.

This article was amended on July 16 to clarify entitlement to carer leave.