Work-life balance is also crucial for working parents who want to be as present as possible in their children's lives. It is also true for fathers, who can count on various solutions to get them more involved in family life. On Father's Day, we have prepared an overview of working fathers' rights. Read on!

Paternity leave

A working father is entitled to paternity leave of up to 2 weeks, but no longer than until the child is 12 months old or 12 months have elapsed from the date on which the decision declaring the adoption of the child becomes final (and no longer than the child is 14 years old).

Paternity leave is granted upon application in paper or electronic form submitted by the employee-father no less than 7 days prior to the commencement of the leave.

Important! The transitional provisions of the amendments to the Labour Code indicate that an employee-father raising a child (as at the date of entry into force of this Act) is entitled to paternity leave under the existing rules, however, no longer than until the child is 24 months old.

Exemption from work due to the birth of a child

New fathers are also entitled to two days off work for the birth of a child. The employer is obliged to release the man to whom the child is born from work, with retention of the right to remuneration.

Taking over maternity leave by the father raising the child

The Labour Code specifies in which situations a working father raising a child has the right to take maternity leave when the mother is not in an employment relationship but is covered by social insurance for sickness and maternity, as well as when she is not covered by this insurance or does not have a title to be covered by this insurance. Taking over part of the maternity leave by the employee-father raising the child or by the employee-other member of the immediate family is possible in the following cases:

• the resignation of a part of maternity leave by a female employee with a certificate of incapacity for self-sufficiency after she has taken at least eight weeks of maternity leave following childbirth (resignation of maternity allowance for a period corresponding to the period of maternity leave by an insured mother of a child after she has taken this allowance for at least eight weeks following childbirth),
• the resignation from part of maternity leave by a female employee who is in a hospital or another medical institution due to a state of health preventing her from taking care of the child personally after taking at least eight weeks of maternity leave following childbirth,
• death of a female employee during maternity leave (death of the insured woman – mother of the child while receiving maternity benefit for the period corresponding to the period of maternity leave),
• abandonment of the child by the employee during maternity leave; the takeover of the remaining part of the maternity leave is possible not earlier than after the female employee has used up at least eight weeks of maternity leave following childbirth (abandonment of the child by the insured mother during maternity benefit for the period corresponding to the period of maternity leave; the takeover of the remaining part of the maternity leave is possible not earlier than the insured mother has used up maternity benefit for at least eight weeks),
• death of the child's mother who is not covered by social insurance in the event of sickness and maternity or who does not have the right to be covered by such insurance, as well as in the event of abandonment of the child by such mother,
• the inability of the child's mother, who is not covered by social insurance in the event of sickness and maternity or does not have a title to such insurance and who has a certificate of incapacity to lead an independent life and take personal care of the child.

The occurrence of such circumstances will also entitle the other employee (the so-called adoptive parent) or the employee's other immediate family member to take over part of maternity leave or part of parental leave.

Taking over part of maternity leave by the father raising a child

Taking over part of maternity leave by an employee-father raising a child is possible in the case of:

• resignation by a female employee from a part of maternity leave after taking at least 14 weeks of such leave following childbirth (resignation by an insured woman – child's mother from receiving maternity benefit for a period corresponding to the period of maternity leave, after she has taken this benefit for at least 14 weeks following childbirth),
• taking up employment of not less than half of her full-time working hours by the child's mother, who does not have the right to be covered by social insurance in the event of sickness and maternity.

Analogous entitlements apply to employees who have taken a child into foster care, except:

• as a foster family, except for a professional foster family, they are entitled to leave under maternity leave conditions not longer than until the child is seven years old, and in the case of a child for whom a decision has been made to postpone compulsory education – not longer than until the child is ten years old;
• and have applied to the guardianship court to initiate proceedings for the adoption of the child, shall be entitled to leave under the conditions of maternity leave for no longer than until the child attains the age of 14.

For the period of maternity leave (leave under conditions of maternity leave), they are entitled to a maternity allowance of 100 per cent of the maternity allowance base.

Parental leave

This year saw the decoupling of the right to parental leave (maternity allowance for the period corresponding to the period of parental leave) from the mother of the child remaining in employment (sickness and maternity insurance) on the date of birth.

This means that a working father will be able to start taking the leave (maternity allowance for the period of this leave) either immediately after the birth of the child or to take the leave (maternity allowance for the period of this leave) at a later date – until the end of the calendar year in which the child turns six.

The Labour Code stipulates that working parents of a child are entitled to parental leave of up to 41 weeks in the case of the birth of one child in a single birth or 43 weeks in the case of multiple births. Parental leave of the aforementioned duration will be granted to both employee parents of a child jointly.

Each parent of a child will be entitled to an exclusive right to nine weeks of parental leave from the above-mentioned dimension of leave. This will be the non-transferable part of parental leave which is not only granted to the father, but to each of the child's parents. Therefore, out of the above-mentioned parental leave entitlement, the non-transferable nine weeks of parental leave will accrue to both the employee-mother of the child and the working father of the child, and the remaining amount of leave (i.e. 23 or 25) can be shared by the employee-parents of the child at their discretion

Entitlements shared with the mother

A father raising the child also has rights that he can share with the mother of his child. These are:

• the right to part of his maternity leave or leave on maternity leave conditions.

The first 14 weeks of maternity leave are exclusively for the mother. The rest, the unused part of the leave, can be freely shared with the father raising the child.

• parental leave

After taking maternity leave or maternity allowance for the period corresponding to the period of maternity leave, the employee, the father of the child, is entitled to parental leave of up to 32 weeks (where the mother gives birth to one child in one birth) or 34 weeks (where more children are born in one birth).

Parental leave is granted to both parents or, if they decide jointly, to one of them. It is granted either in one go or in a maximum of five parts.

• child-rearing leave

An employee employed for at least six months is entitled to parental leave for a child's care - previous periods of employment count towards the six months. The length of parental leave is up to 36 months.

The leave shall be granted for a period not exceeding the end of the calendar year when the child reaches six. In addition, if, due to a health condition confirmed by a disability certificate or a disability degree, the child requires the employee's personal care, an additional parental leave of up to 36 months may be granted, but for a period not exceeding the child's 18th birthday.

Parental leave in the abovementioned amount shall be granted to both parents or guardians of the child jointly. Each parent or guardian of a child is entitled to an exclusive right to one month of parental leave from the dimension of leave set out above. This right cannot be transferred to the other parent or guardian of the child. Taking at least one month's parental leave means that the parent or guardian of the child has taken the leave.

• the possibility of reducing the working time

An employee entitled to parental leave may request the employer to reduce his working hours to no less than half of his full-time working hours (FTE) during the period in which he could take such leave. The employee must make such a request 21 days before the reduced working hours commences.

• prohibition on the employment of a father caring for a child in overtime, night time, so-called intermittent working time system and posting outside the permanent workplace

An employer cannot employ a father overtime, at night, during the so-called intermittent working time system, or post him outside his permanent workplace without his consent. However, this only applies to fathers caring for a child up to the age of eight years. It is important to note that if the child's parents (or guardians) are employed, only one may exercise the rights mentioned above.

• exemption from work for raising a child under the age of 14

Each parent is entitled to two days off work per calendar year in connection with the upbringing of at least one child under 14. Importantly, it is up to the parents to decide whether to use the leave in days (2 days) or hours (16 hours). The employee retains the right to remuneration for the time of such release.

Prohibition of preparations for redundancy

A prohibition has been introduced on all preparations for dismissal of employees as well as on the termination and dissolution of employment during pregnancy and maternity leave, and from the date of the employee's request for parental leave until the date of termination of such leave and care leave and the taking of such leave, as well as for requesting flexible working arrangements.

Special protection against redundancy

During pregnancy, as well as maternity, parental and paternity leave, the employer must not terminate or dissolve the employment contract.

Exceptionally, this is possible in the case:

• when there are reasons justifying termination without notice due to the fault of the employee and the company trade union organisation representing the employee has agreed to the termination,
• the employer is declared bankrupt or liquidated.

Admission to work

The employer must allow the employee-father to return to work after returning from maternity, parental or parental leave to her previous position or, if this is not possible, to a position equivalent to the one held before the leave began or to another position corresponding to her professional qualifications, at a salary not lower than the remuneration for work to which the employee-father was entitled on the day she started working in the position held before the leave.

Equal rights for foster families

An employee who took a child for upbringing as a foster family, except for a professional foster family, or who has adopted a child and has applied to the guardianship court with a request to initiate proceedings for the adoption of a child can benefit from leave under the conditions of maternity leave and parental leave.

Possibility to take advantage of flexible working arrangements

An employee-parent who decides to return to work can take advantage of flexible working arrangements to facilitate work-life balance and request reduced working hours.

The possibility to make wider use of flexible working arrangements is available to parents caring for a child under eight years of age and to carers, i.e. employees providing care or support to a relative or person living with the employee in the same household who requires care or support for serious medical reasons.

An employee can apply on paper or electronically for flexible working arrangements to be applied to them at least 21 days before they are due to start using flexible working arrangements.

The employer shall consider the request, taking into account the needs of the employee, including the timing and the reason for the need to use flexible working arrangements, and the needs and capabilities of the employer, including the need to ensure the normal flow of work, the organisation of work or the type of work performed by the employee.  The employer shall inform the employee on paper or electronically of the granting of the request or the reason for the refusal of the request within seven days of its receipt.

Carer's leave

The employee-father can take unpaid carer's leave – of 5 days per calendar year – to provide personal care or support to a relative (son, daughter, mother, father or spouse) or person in the joint household who requires care or support for serious medical reasons, without retaining the right to remuneration for the duration of the leave.

Force majeure

A working father can be exempt from work for reasons of force majeure – to the extent of two days or 16 hours per calendar year – for urgent family matters caused by illness or accident, if the employee's immediate presence is necessary, with the employee retaining the right to half pay (calculated like annual leave pay) for the duration of this leave.