Maternity and paternity leave
How to work out how many weeks you are entitled to
All employees benefit from maternity or paternity leave.
Maternity leave is split into a part before the birth and part afterwards and taking some leave is obligatory. The length is variable depending on the number of children born or that the mother is already responsible for.
Money from the social security system is payable to help. The amount is based on a complex calculation depending on factors such as how long you have been paying into the social security system through work and how much you earn.
It cannot be more than €100.36/day after deduction of social charges.
This useful calendar can work out how many weeks you are entitled to. For example, for a first child, there is six weeks before and ten weeks afterwards.
Paternity leave is 25 days or 32 days in the case of multiple births such as twins. These days are in addition to three days of ‘birth leave’ immediately after the birth.
Paternity leave comes with the proviso that the first seven days must be taken immediately after the birth of the child, the first three of which being the birth leave and the other four being part of the paternity leave.
The law further requires that the remaining unused portion of paternity leave must be used within a six-month time-limit following the birth and can only be split into two periods (or three, in the case of multiple births), each lasting a minimum of five working days.
These periods off work may be taken consecutively after the initial mandatory seven or they may be taken at a later date. However, after the six-month limit, the right to paternity leave expires and you cannot redeem any unused days.
To be eligible you must have worked a minimum of 150 hours in the three months preceding your leave and have had a Social Security number for at least 10 months. The paternity leave allowance is from €11.02 and €101.94 per day.
Arrangements also exist for maternity and paternity compensation for people in self-employment.