Directive 2010/18 / EU (Parental Leave Directive)

; Directive 2010/18 / EU
Title:	Council Directive 2010/18 / EU of March 8, 2010 implementing the revised framework agreement on parental leave concluded by BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP and ETUC and repealing Directive 96/34 / EC
Designation: ; (not official)	Parental Leave Policy, Parental Leave Policy
Scope:	EEA
Legal matter:	Employment Law
Basis:	TFEU , in particular Article 155 (2)
Come into effect:	April 7, 2010
Replaces:	Directive 96/34 / EC
Last change by:	Directive 2013/62 / EU
To be ; implemented in national law by:	March 8, 2012, changes December 31, 2018
Implemented by:	Germany ; Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act
Expiry:	August 1, 2022
Reference:	OJ L 68, March 18, 2010, pp. 13-20
Full text	Consolidated version (not official) ; basic version
The regulation must have been implemented in national law.
Please note the information on the current version of legal acts of the European Union !

The Directive 2010/18 / EU of 8 March 2010, parental leave directive or parental leave directive called, lays down minimum requirements for parental leave and time off from work for reasons of force majeure firmly. It is designed as a measure to improve the compatibility of work, family and private life and to implement equal opportunities for men and women in the labor market and equal treatment in the workplace. In terms of flexicurity, it should meet the interests of both employers and employees.

The previous Directive 96/34 / EC of 3 June 1996 also laid down minimum requirements for parental leave and absence from work for reasons of force majeure and was designed as a measure to improve the work-life balance. It raised the framework agreement on parental leave concluded on December 14, 1995 between the European social partners ( UNICE , CEEP and ETUC ) to become binding law. This framework agreement is attached to the directive.

The Directive 97/75 / EC of 15 December 1997 extended the provisions of the Directive to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Content of the framework agreement for Directive 2010/18 / EU

The framework agreement defines the objective and scope of the framework agreement in paragraph 1.

Paragraph 2 number 1 stipulates an individual right to parental leave of at least four months in the event of birth or adoption . The right relates to the period up to a certain age of the child, a maximum of eight years. Parental leave should in principle not be transferable according to Paragraph 2 Number 2, but non-transferability is only mandatory for one month. Paragraph 5 relates to employee rights (including the employee's right to return to their previous job or, if that is not possible, to work of equal or similar value) and non-discrimination ( protection against disadvantage or dismissal due to application for or use of parental leave) and Paragraph 6 contains regulations for the resumption of employment.

Paragraph 7 obliges the social partners and / or the member states to take measures to enable employees to be absent from work for reasons of force majeure due to urgent family reasons in the event of illness or accidents that require the immediate presence of the employee.

Previous Directive 96/34 / EC

Content of the framework agreement

The framework agreement defines the objective and scope of the framework agreement in paragraph 1.

Paragraph 2 number 1 defines an individual right to parental leave of at least three months in the event of birth or adoption . The right relates to the period up to a certain age of the child, a maximum of eight years. Parental leave should in principle not be transferable according to paragraph 2 number 2. The requirements and modalities for taking parental leave are determined by the member states or the social partners in accordance with Paragraph 2 Number 3. In particular, they can decide according to number 3.a) whether parental leave is granted on a full-time or part-time basis , in parts or in the form of “credit hours”.

Paragraph 3 obliges the social partners and / or the member states to take measures to enable employees to stay away from work for reasons of force majeure due to urgent family reasons in the event of illness or accidents that require the immediate presence of the employee.

implementation

A change in national legislation in Germany was not aimed for in the first few years after the directive came into force. The guideline was later implemented by the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act.

Efforts to revise

The European Commission highlighted the compatibility of work, private and family life as one of the priorities in the “ Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006-2010 ”. In this context, in October 2006 it held a first hearing of the European social partners under Article 138 of the EC Treaty on the subject of compatibility. On May 30th, 2007, she initiated the second phase of the hearing, calling on the European social partners to continue their ongoing work to promote work-life balance in the context of their joint framework for action. In particular, she asked them to examine the framework agreement on parental leave for a possible revision. The Commission announced that it would submit a proposal for a directive itself if the social partners did not comply with this request. Conversely, the Commission agreed to give any convention the form of a directive.

On September 17, 2008, the European social partners started negotiations on the revision of the directive as part of the European social dialogue ; Originally it was planned to hand over the results to the heads of state and government at the spring summit in 2009. The negotiations stalled at the end of 2008; on March 23, 2009 a result of the negotiations was reached. So should

the individual right to parental leave can be extended from three to four months for each parent,
an “extended, more modern family term” is used and
Flexibility after returning from parental leave is improved for the benefit of the employees.

The European Trade Union Confederation and the employers' associations then had to decide in a voting procedure whether they would accept the result of the negotiations.

On June 18, 2009, the social partners agreed on a new framework agreement on parental leave . To implement the revised framework agreement on parental leave, the Council agreed on 30 November 2009 on a new directive on parental leave. The new Directive 2010/18 / EU was formally adopted on March 8, 2010 and replaced Directive 96/34 / EC. The member states then have two years to transpose the new rules into national law.

The following Directive (EU) 2019/1158

This directive is repealed by directive (EU) 2019/1158 (compatibility directive), which has to be implemented in national law by August 2, 2022. She sees u. a. a paternity leave of at least 10 days, which is to be paid at least in the amount of the sick pay. Two (or more) months of at least four months of parental leave are non-transferable and parents can take parental leave on a part-time basis or in sections up to the child's 8th birthday. There is a right to five days off work per year for the care of seriously ill or needy family members. In addition, the rights for working parents of children up to 8 years of age and for family carers with regard to applying for flexible work arrangements (part-time, flextime and teleworking) are being strengthened.

Proposals to increase the time frame up to the twelfth birthday were not accepted.

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Sonja Blum, Klaus Schubert: Political field analysis. VS Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-531-16389-5 , p. 119 ( limited preview in Google book search).
^ Anja Wehler-Schöck: New European political initiatives for a better work-life balance. (PDF; 110 kB) Friedrich Ebert Foundation, November 2008, accessed on May 4, 2009 . P. 1.
↑ ^a ^b Angela Schneider-Bodien: European Social Dialogue: Start of negotiations on the revision of the parental leave directive. (PDF) In: euro-info No. 6, p. 10. Federal Association of German Employers' Associations, October 28, 2008, accessed on May 3, 2009 .

↑ Commission of the European Communities: Summary of the Impact Assessment. COM (2008) 637, SEC (2008) 2595 , accessed on April 3, 2009 , p. 3.

^ Anja Wehler-Schöck: New European political initiatives for a better work-life balance. (PDF; 110 kB) Friedrich Ebert Foundation, November 2008, accessed on May 4, 2009 . P. 6.

↑ Parental leave - breakthrough in social dialogue. In: Focus on Europe. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Edition 01/09. German Trade Union Confederation, April 22, 2009, formerly the original ; Retrieved May 3, 2009 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.dgb.de
↑ Press release of November 30, 2009
↑ Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 20, 2019 on the work-life balance for parents and caregivers and on the repeal of Council Directive 2010/18 / EU , accessed on November 16, 2019 . In: Official Journal of the European Union . L 188, July 12, 2019, p. 79.

↑ The revised framework agreement on parental leave. ESD interpretation guide. (PDF) In: etuc.org. Retrieved May 7, 2020 .

↑ The proposed directive on work-life balance calls into question the raison d'être of the European Social Dialogue. (PDF) In: BDA statement (berufgeber.de). June 2017, accessed May 7, 2020 .

[1] Sonja Blum, Klaus Schubert: Political field analysis. VS Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-531-16389-5 , p. 119 ( limited preview in Google book search).

[2] Anja Wehler-Schöck: New European political initiatives for a better work-life balance. (PDF; 110 kB) Friedrich Ebert Foundation, November 2008, accessed on May 4, 2009 . P. 1.

[euro-info-3] Angela Schneider-Bodien: European Social Dialogue: Start of negotiations on the revision of the parental leave directive. (PDF) In: euro-info No. 6, p. 10. Federal Association of German Employers' Associations, October 28, 2008, accessed on May 3, 2009 .

[4] Commission of the European Communities: Summary of the Impact Assessment. COM (2008) 637, SEC (2008) 2595 , accessed on April 3, 2009 , p. 3.

[5] Anja Wehler-Schöck: New European political initiatives for a better work-life balance. (PDF; 110 kB) Friedrich Ebert Foundation, November 2008, accessed on May 4, 2009 . P. 6.

[6] Parental leave - breakthrough in social dialogue. In: Focus on Europe. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Edition 01/09. German Trade Union Confederation, April 22, 2009, formerly the original ; Retrieved May 3, 2009 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.dgb.de

[7] Press release of November 30, 2009

[8] Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 20, 2019 on the work-life balance for parents and caregivers and on the repeal of Council Directive 2010/18 / EU , accessed on November 16, 2019 . In: Official Journal of the European Union . L 188, July 12, 2019, p. 79.

[9] The revised framework agreement on parental leave. ESD interpretation guide. (PDF) In: etuc.org. Retrieved May 7, 2020 .

[10] The proposed directive on work-life balance calls into question the raison d'être of the European Social Dialogue. (PDF) In: BDA statement (berufgeber.de). June 2017, accessed May 7, 2020 .