As of January 1, 2023 the birth-leave or paternity leave increased for fathers and co-parents.
For whom?
Fathers or co-parents are entitled to birth leave for the birth of their child.
What was the length of the birth-leave?
This leave originally amounted to 10 days, but has since then progressively increased.
The first increase to 15 days took place on 1 January 2021.
What changes in January 2023?
For births as of 1 January 2023, this leave has now been increased to 20 days. The disparity between maternity leave for the mother (15 weeks) and birth leave (for the other parent) therefore remains, but is further reduced.
What doesn’t change
The main modalities and indemnities of this type of leave remain unchanged:
- Before taking the leave, the employee must warn his/her employer beforehand, and provide the employer with the necessary proof.
- The employee can take this leave within the four months following the birth either by taking these leave days all at once or spreading them over the four months.
- The employer pays the full salary for the first three days. For the other days, the employee is entitled to an allowance which amounts to 82% of capped daily gross salary paid by the health care fund to which the employee is affiliated.
- The employee is protected against dismissal from the notification of his birth leave until 5 months after the birth. This protection also applies to (the extension of) fixed-term contracts. The protection indemnity can be up to 6 months’ salary!
In order to spend more time with their children, employees may also take (part-time) parental leave or time credit under certain conditions. Do not hesitate to contact Pro-Pay for more information on this topic!
You can also contact us using the contact sheet.
