On Thursday, the Senate supported the amendment of the Labor Code on the extension of maternity leave for parents of premature babies. The Chamber also adopted two amendments. Now the rules go back to the Sejm.
88 senators voted in favor of the entire amendment, which provides that parents of children born prematurely and those who are hospitalized after birth will have leave to extend the period of pregnancy together with the amendments.
Amendments to the Labor Code and some other acts extended maternity leave for parents of premature babies and children hospitalized after birth.
One of the adopted changes involves changes to the Law on Higher Education and Science. This provision is intended to extend the deadline for submitting a doctoral thesis to the period of additional maternity leave.
The Second Amendment gives parents who are entitled to additional maternity leave the right to apply for compensation under the Equal Treatment Act.
How long is extended maternity leave?
According to the provisions adopted in this amendment, long-term maternity leave for parents of children born before the 28th week of pregnancy or those whose birth weight was less than 1000 grams on the day of birth is no more than 15 weeks.
For parents of children who were born before the 36th week of pregnancy or who were born at term, but require hospitalization – this will be a maximum of eight weeks.
It is mentioned in the regulations that to determine the amount of additional pregnancy leave, the periods of the child's stay in the hospital until the 8th week or the 15th week after birth are collected, and a partial week is rounded up to a full week. This provision takes into account the intervals between subsequent hospitalizations of the child.
Leave is given to mothers or fathers, as well as legal guardians, foster parents and adoptive parents. The amount of payment for extended maternity leave is 100 percent. its basis is provided for in the amendment, which is now being discussed by the deputies.
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