Child-Care Leave

An employee is entitled to child-care leave for the purposes of taking care of their own child or another child permanently living with the employee until the child reaches the age of three. However, an adoptive parent's right to child-care leave continues until two years after the adoption, at the maximum until the child starts school.

The parents may not take child-care leave at the same time. During pregnancy or parental leave one of the parents may, however, take out one period of child care leave, i.e., when more children are born to the family and the other parent takes pregnancy or parental leave, the other parent may take out one period of child-care leave if there is a child under the age of three in the family.

It is possible to take child-care leave in a maximum of two periods with minimum duration of one month. The employer and the employee may agree upon several periods or a period shorter than one month. It is recommendable that the employer and the employee draft an overall plan of taking the child-care leave.