And the employers are “for” paid leave for the father – Bulgaria
Employers have no objections to the proposal by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy (MLSP) to change the Labor Code (LC), according to which fathers will be entitled to paid leave of two months until the child reaches the age of 8. The right to maternity leave due to pregnancy and childcare up to 8 years of age is regulated by law and could exceed 3 years in total, while so far the father has not been provided with short leave at the birth of the child.
Legislation in time
The use of leave in these cases is an individual right of the mother (adoptive mother), which she may, at her request, transfer to the father (adoptive parent) after the child reaches the age of 6 months or after 6 months from the day of transfer. the child for adoption (art. 163 and art. 164 of the Labor Code).
Leave due to childbirth and childbirth is traditionally considered a right that is guaranteed as a mother by looking at the relationship she has with her and the child.
Advice on this, so far the father’s rights to these types of leave is entirely dependent on the will of the mother, the proposal is justified. According to the current actions of the father’s council, he has the authority to pay 15 days of paid leave from the data for the child’s discharge from the hospital. Unless the mother transfers part of her leave to him, the legislation does not currently provide for an individual right of the father (adoptive parent) to parental leave with a guaranteed right to remuneration or compensation.
Under Art. 167a of the Labor Code, both parents are entitled to unpaid leave of 6 months until the child reaches the age of 8, and 5 of them can be transferred to other parents.
The proposal – the father with an individual right to leave
The proposal is to refer to the directive of the low parliament on the balance between professional and personal life of parents. It obliges the use to provide an individual right of release to each parent for four months, two months of which cannot be transferred to the other parent. For the period of this leave is health to determine payment or compensation. The Council for this needs a change in the operation of the joint legislation, which regulates the individual right of the father (adoptive) in the release of the child up to 8 years.
“The mother currently has an individual right to much more leave than provided for in the directive – from the 45th day before the birth of the child to the end of his first year, and the benefit for the use of 90% of insurance income. For the second year the child is entitled to leave for his upbringing, and here the compensation is in the amount of BGN 710 per month. Separately, he is entitled to unpaid leave of 6 months until the end of the child’s eighth year. Eventually, the father can transfer another 5 months of the same type of leave, “Nenko Salchev, head of the Labor Law and Working Conditions Department in the Labor Law, Social Security and Working Conditions Directorate, told Dnevnik. He specified that in Bulgaria the amount of maternity leave is the longest in the EU.
The proposal of the father (adoptive parent) to use 2 months of paid leave only if he has not used paid leave transferred from the mother.
To receive leave, he must notify his employer at least 10 days in advance. The leave can be used on each or in parts. The employer may refuse it by submitting a written motivated position for refusal, it is regulated in the proposal.
The project is published for public discussion by May 3, 2022. The changes are expected to take effect on August 1.
Employers – dissatisfied, but for something else
Jasmina Saraivanova, an expert from the Employers’ Interests Center at the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), told Dnevnik that employers are already familiar with the proposal and agree with it.
“The proposals in connection with the transposition of the directive were considered in the working group formed by the MLSP and in its participation of the social partners. The text of after the discussions and talks within the working group, such as that of all vacations, contact the showing of the little ones “, she said. Sariivanova presents that the Bulgarian legislation is one of the most generous in the EU -larger than in other countries.
Employers still support you to point out a problem that BIA has been warning about for many years – the so-called accumulation of leave on leave, ie. when the mother or the father takes leave to look after a small child, and for the same period of time they are accrued paid annual leave. According to the employers, this should not be the case, because the paid annual leave is for the purpose of mental and physical recovery of employment. “Therefore, we believe that this issue should not remain out of sight, talking about this type of leave,” said Sariivanova.