The Dutch Senate approved the Paid Prenatal Leave Act (Wet betaald ouderschapsverlof) on October 12, 2021, enabling both parents to be paid for 9 weeks of parental leave during the child’s first year of life. The change will allow parents to receive the paid parental leave for the first 9 weeks at 50% of their daily wages. This is in addition to 16 weeks of paid maternity leave for mothers and 6 weeks of paid birth leave for fathers.
The Parents can also make use of new paid parental leave in the event of the birth of child prior to August 2, 2022, provided the fulfillment of the following conditions as on August 2, 2022:
- Both Parents are employees.
- Age of Child is less than a year.
- The parents had not availed full right parental leave
Implication:
The employer needs to make necessary changes in the Employee Policies and other necessary documents in consonance with the newly announced changes once they are effective.