Paternity leave is a new legal institution that is to be introduced throughout the EU by an EU directive from 2019. The German legislator still has time until August 2, 2022 to implement it.
According to the EU directive, fathers are entitled to 10 days of paid paternity leave in connection with the birth of their child. The directive assumes a 5-day working week. If more or fewer days are worked in a week, the number of vacation days is adjusted accordingly. These paternity leave days are granted in addition to the annual leave that already exists in the employment relationship.
The main purpose of paternity leave is to enable a better work-life balance.
The first requirement for claiming paternity leave is that the employee is a father. It remains to be seen whether this will be based on the biological or legal father, or whether the legislature will create a completely new definition of paternity.
Furthermore, paternity leave must be requested in connection with the birth of the child. This means that fathers who already have older children will no longer be eligible for the new legal institution.
In addition, the paternity leave must actually be used for the care and upbringing of the child. Fathers who already live separately from the mother and are not involved in the upbringing of the child are therefore not entitled to two weeks of additional paid leave.
However, there is no minimum period of employment. The entitlement exists from the first day of the employment relationship.
The decision as to who bears the costs for the additional paternity leave has been left to the EU member states. The German legislator can therefore impose the costs completely on the employer or follow the regulations in the MuSchG and transfer the costs of paternity leave to the health insurance fund as a compensation payment.
In conclusion, it remains to be seen how exactly paternity leave will be structured by the German legislature. Once the new law comes into force, paternity leave will certainly make it easier for many fathers to spend time with their child despite their jobs.
The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.