27. 11. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 316/7 
Amended proposal for a Council Directive on parental leave and leave for family 
reasons (') 
(COM(84) 631 final) 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 
149 of the EEC Treaty on 15 November 1984) 
(84/C 316/09) 
0) OJ No C 333, 9. 12. 1983, p. 6. 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Preamble unchanged 
Whereas the Commission, in its communication to 
the Council of 9 December 1981 on a new 
Community Action Programme on the promotion of 
equal opportunities for women 1982-1985 ('), 
undertook to take action to promote parental leave 
and leave for family reasons; 
Article 1 
For the purpose of this Directive: 
Parental leave shall mean entitlement to leave of a 
given duration to wage-earners, fathers, mothers, 
including staff working in the public sector, conse­
quential upon the birth of a child, during the period 
following the termination of maternity leave, or to 
workers, as defined above, on the adoption of a child 
during the period following its reception in the 
adoptive parents' household, during which period of 
leave the beneficiary takes responsibility for the actual 
care of the child. Whereas the Commission, in its communication to 
the Council of 9 December 1981 on a new 
Community Action Programme on the promotion of 
equal opportunities for women 1982-1985 (*) 
announced its intention of taking action to promote 
parental leave and leave for family reasons; 
Whereas on 11 February 1981 the European Par­
liament adopted a resolution on the situation of 
women in the European Community in which it 
emphasized the need for harmonization of the 
Member States' laws and practices concerning 
parental leave and leave for family reasons and on 
9 June 1983, a resolution on family policy, in the 
European Community, in which it stressed the need 
for priority to be given to the development of parental 
leave; 
- become fourth and fifth recitals 
Article 1 
For the purpose of this Directive: 
Parental leave shall mean entitlement to leave of a 
given duration for wage-earners including staff 
working in the public sector, consequential upon the 
birth of a child, during the period following, but not 
necessarily consecutive with maternity leave, or upon 
the reception of a child into the household of parents 
proposing to adopt the child concerned, or upon 
adoption, on condition that during the period of 
parental leave the beneficiary takes responsibility for 
the actual care of the child. Second recital unchanged 
Third and fourth recitals unchanged 
O COM(81) 758 final. (') COM(81) 758 final. 
No C 316/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 27.11.84 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
Under these conditions parental leave shall be granted 
to: 
— fathers and mothers 
— adoptive fathers and mothers 
— step fathers and mothers 
— any person acting in the place of such persons in 
circumstances such as the serious illness or death 
of the latter. 
Leave for family reasons shall mean entitlement to 
short periods of leave granted for pressing family 
reasons to workers with family responsibilities. Leave for family reasons shall mean entitlement to 
limited periods of leave granted for pressing and 
important family reasons to workers as defined above 
with family responsibilities. 
Article 2 unchanged 
Article 3 unchanged 
Article 4 
1. Parental leave shall be granted to enable a 
working parent to stay at home in order to take sole 
or principal charge of his or her child. Article 4 
1. Parental leave shall be granted to enable any 
person entitled under Article 1, to stay at home to 
look after the child concerned. 
2. Parental leave shall be granted for the 
beneficiary to take sole or principal charge of a child. 
Parental leave shall not be granted simultaneously in 
respect of one child to both parents, or other persons 
referred to in Article 1. 
2. Parental leave shall constitute a right and not an 
obligation. It shall be granted to a working parent on 
request subject to the following provisions: 
— the workers shall give adequate notice of their 
intention to take parental leave 
— the workers shall give adequate notice of their 
intention to return to work after parental leave 
— in no case shall the period of notice required 
exceed two months. 3. Parental leave shall consitute a right and not an 
obligation. It shall be granted to a working parent on 
request subject to the following provisions: 
— the workers shall give adequate notice of their 
intention to take parental leave 
— the workers shall give adequate notice of their 
intention to return to work after parental leave 
— in no case shall the period of notice required 
exceed two months. 
3. The period of parental leave to which workers 
are entitled shall be at least three months. 4. The period of parental leave to which workers 
are entitled shall be at least three months after each 
birth or adoption. 
4. The duration of parental leave may be extended 
for the single parent in the case of one-parent families 
or for both parents where the child is handicapped 
and lives at home. 5. The duration of parental leave may be extended 
in the case of single-parent families or in the case of a 
disabled child living at home. 
27.11.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 316/9 
ORIGINAL TEXT AMENDED TEXT 
5. Entitlement to parental leave shall cease when 
the child reaches the age of two years, or five years in 
the case of a handicapped child living in the 
household of the entitled parent, or of an adopted 
child. 
6. A worker's right to parental leave shall not be 
transferable. 6. Entitlement to parental leave shall cease when 
the child reaches the age of two years, except that: 
— in the case of the adoption of a child under the 
age of five years, it shall cease, two years after the 
adoption, and 
— in the case of a disabled child living in the 
household of the entitled parent or other persons 
referred to in Article 1, it shall cease when the 
child reaches the age of five years. 
7. A worker's right to parental leave shall not be 
transferable. 
Article 5 unchanged 
Article 6 unchanged 
Article 7 unchanged 
Article 8 (1) and (2) unchanged 
3. The duration of this leave as provided for in 
paragraph 1 may be extended where: 
— the beneficiary is head of a single-parent family; 
— the beneficiary concerned has three or more 
children living at home, under an age limit to be 
determined. 3. The duration of the leave as provided for in 
paragraph 1 may be extended where: 
— the beneficiary is head of a single-parent family; 
— the beneficiary concerned has three or more 
children living at home, under an age limit to be 
determined by the Member State concerned; 
— the beneficiary is responsible for the care of a 
disabled person living in the same household. 
Article 9 unchanged 
Article 10 unchanged 
Article 11 unchanged 
Article 12 unchanged 
Article 13 unchanged 
Article 14 unchanged