Paid parental leave for fathers approved in May 2016 took effect last Thursday. Photo: Pixabay
Brno, Feb 5 (BD) – The new paternity leave regulations that came into force last Thursday allow fathers to have 7 days of paid leave during the first six weeks after their child’s birth.
From now on, dads can spend an entire week with their newborn children without having to take vacation days or unpaid leave. Fathers can now receive 70% of their income while on leave, just as women on maternity leave do, Czech news server iDnes.cz reports.
Paternity leave also recognizes adoptive parents, foster parents, and registered partners.
“It’s essential that a man is registered as the father of the child on the birth certificate. […] It’s not important whether they [fathers] are married to the mother or share a household,” said Jana Buraňová, a spokeswoman for the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ), according to iDnes.cz.
Employed men should ask their employers for the leave. They can complete the paternity leave application form available on the ČSSZ website and submit it to their employer. After completing the seven-day leave, their employers send the form to ČSSZ.
Freelancers who have paid sickness insurance for at least three months prior to their paternity leave can send the request to the authorities themselves.
