CELEX: 51984PC0631
Language: en
Date: 1984-11-09
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON PARENTAL LEAVE AND LEAVE FOR FAMILY REASONS

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                 Whereas the Commission, in its communication to
the Council of 9 December 1981 on a new                         the Council of 9 December 1981 on a new
Community Action Programme on the promotion of                  Community Action Programme on the promotion of
equal opportunities for women             1982-1985 ('),        equal opportunities            for women             1982-1985 (*)
undertook to take action to promote parental leave              announced its intention of taking action to promote
and leave for family reasons;                                   parental leave and leave for family reasons;
                                            Second recital unchanged
                                                               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;
               Third and fourth recitals unchanged             - b e c o m e f o u r t h a n d fifth r e c i t a l s
                        Article 1                                                            Article 1
For the purpose of this Directive:                              For the purpose of this Directive:
Parental leave shall mean entitlement to leave of a             Parental leave shall mean entitlement to leave of a
given duration to wage-earners, fathers, mothers,               given duration for wage-earners including staff
including staff working in the public sector, conse-            working in the public sector, consequential upon the
quential upon the birth of a child, during the period           birth of a child, during the period following, but not
following the termination of maternity leave, or to             necessarily consecutive with maternity leave, or upon
workers, as defined above, on the adoption of a child           the reception of a child into the household of parents
during the period following its reception in the                proposing to adopt the child concerned, or upon
adoptive parents' household, during which period of             adoption, on condition that during the period of
leave the beneficiary takes responsibility for the actual       parental leave the beneficiary takes responsibility for
care of the child.                                              the actual care of the child.
O COM(81) 758 final.                                            (') COM(81) 758 final.
 ---pagebreak--- 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               Leave for family reasons shall mean entitlement to
short periods of leave granted for pressing family               limited periods of leave granted for pressing and
reasons to workers with family responsibilities.                 important family reasons to workers as defined above
                                                                 with family responsibilities.
                                                 Article 2 unchanged
                                                 Article 3 unchanged
                         Article 4                                                        Article 4
1.    Parental leave shall be granted to enable a                1.    Parental leave shall be granted to enable any
working parent to stay at home in order to take sole             person entitled under Article 1, to stay at home to
or principal charge of his or her child.                         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         3.    Parental leave shall consitute a right and not an
obligation. It shall be granted to a working parent on           obligation. It shall be granted to a working parent on
request subject to the following provisions:                     request subject to the following provisions:
— the workers shall give adequate notice of their                — the workers shall give adequate notice of their
    intention to take parental leave                                 intention to take parental leave
— the workers shall give adequate notice of their                — the workers shall give adequate notice of their
    intention to return to work after parental leave                 intention to return to work after parental leave
— in no case shall the period of notice required                 — in no case shall the period of notice required
    exceed two months.                                               exceed two months.
3.    The period of parental leave to which workers              4.    The period of parental leave to which workers
are entitled shall be at least three months.                     are entitled shall be at least three months after each
                                                                 birth or adoption.
4.    The duration of parental leave may be extended             5.    The duration of parental leave may be extended
for the single parent in the case of one-parent families         in the case of single-parent families or in the case of a
or for both parents where the child is handicapped               disabled child living at home.
and lives at home.
 ---pagebreak--- 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                   6.      Entitlement to parental leave shall cease when
the child reaches the age of two years, or five years in                the child reaches the age of two years, except that:
the case of a handicapped child living in the
household of the entitled parent, or of an adopted                      — in the case of the adoption of a child under the
child.                                                                       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.
6.    A worker's right to parental leave shall not be                   7.     A worker's right to parental leave shall not be
transferable.                                                           transferable.
                                                    Article 5 unchanged
                                                    Article 6 unchanged
                                                    Article 7 unchanged
                                        A r t i c l e 8 (1) a n d (2) u n c h a n g e d
3.    The duration of this leave as provided for in                     3.     The duration of the leave as provided for in
paragraph 1 may be extended where:                                      paragraph 1 may be extended where:
— the beneficiary is head of a single-parent family;                    — the beneficiary is head of a single-parent family;
— the beneficiary concerned has three or more                          — the beneficiary concerned has three or more
    children living at home, under an age limit to be                        children living at home, under an age limit to be
    determined.                                                              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
                                                  A r t i c l e 10 u n c h a n g e d
                                                  A r t i c l e 11 u n c h a n g e d
                                                   A r t i c l e 12 u n c h a n g e d
                                                   A r t i c l e 13 u n c h a n g e d
                                                   A r t i c l e 14 u n c h a n g e d