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06 July 2020, 07:11
Equal childcare opportunities for both parents
Today #AtTheCommitteeConsideration section is about draft law No. 3695.
It proposes to remove discriminatory and paternalistic provisions from
the current legislation, which do not allow men to fully exercise their
right to care for their kids. The draft law aims to amend labor
legislation to ensure gender equality.
The novelty of the draft law No. 3695 is introducing of a new type of maternity leave. How will it differ from the current one?
According to the current legislation (Article 18 of the Law of Ukraine «On Maternity Leave» and Article 179 of the Labor Code of Ukraine), the maternity leave to care for a child under the age of three may be used not only by a mother, but also by a child's father, grandmother, grandfather or other relatives, who actually care for a baby. But the basis for granting such a leave is a certificate from mother’s place of work (service, education) that she is back to work before the end of the leave, and the payment of childcare allowance is terminated. Therefore, the legislation of Ukraine, which, on the one hand, guarantees equal rights to all citizens at the Constitutional level, enshrines a discriminatory approach, according to which father's right to parental leave is interpreted as derived from the mother's right. And only a mother can delegate this right to a father or other relatives who actually take care of a child.
In case a woman is a self-employed person in Ukraine or an individual entrepreneur, her child's father is generally restricted from taking parental leave because his wife or partner is formally unemployed and is not entitled to any kind of leave.
What does No. 3695 offer?
The draft proposes to define parental leave up to the baby’s age of three as an equal right of each of the baby's parents. It also supplements the current laws with a new type of leave — leave at the birth of a baby lasting up to 14 calendar days, paid by the employer. The draft law proposes to provide such leave not only to a mother, but to one of the following persons: the husband, whose wife gave birth to a child; baby’s father, if he is not officially married to the baby’s mother, but live together, have mutual rights and responsibilities; grandparents, or another adult relative of the child who is actually taking care for him/her.
Another important innovation offered by No. 3695 is the father's right to a reduced working day. Under current law (Article 51 of the Labor Code), a woman has the right to a reduction in working hours if she has children under the age of 14 or a child with a disability. Article 182-1 of the Labor Code establishes additional leave for a woman who works and has two or more children under the age of 15, or a child with a disability, or an adopted child. However, the same rights are not granted to the kid's father. Draft No. 3695 proposes to supplement the above-mentioned articles of the Labor Code with the provision that both parents have the right to reduce working hours and to additional leave.
The authors of the bill emphasize that its main purpose is to withdraw from the legislation the provisions restricting the rights of men and to create preconditions for strengthening the role of a father. Representatives of various political forces worked on this bill. Among the authors are four members of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU. This indicates that there is a consensus in the society that outdated and discriminatory provisions in Ukrainian law should be removed. Instead, the best European and world legislative practices should be implemented in the legislation of Ukraine.
The Committee's opinion on the draft law No. 3695 will be provided at the Committee’s meeting on July 7.
The novelty of the draft law No. 3695 is introducing of a new type of maternity leave. How will it differ from the current one?
According to the current legislation (Article 18 of the Law of Ukraine «On Maternity Leave» and Article 179 of the Labor Code of Ukraine), the maternity leave to care for a child under the age of three may be used not only by a mother, but also by a child's father, grandmother, grandfather or other relatives, who actually care for a baby. But the basis for granting such a leave is a certificate from mother’s place of work (service, education) that she is back to work before the end of the leave, and the payment of childcare allowance is terminated. Therefore, the legislation of Ukraine, which, on the one hand, guarantees equal rights to all citizens at the Constitutional level, enshrines a discriminatory approach, according to which father's right to parental leave is interpreted as derived from the mother's right. And only a mother can delegate this right to a father or other relatives who actually take care of a child.
In case a woman is a self-employed person in Ukraine or an individual entrepreneur, her child's father is generally restricted from taking parental leave because his wife or partner is formally unemployed and is not entitled to any kind of leave.
What does No. 3695 offer?
The draft proposes to define parental leave up to the baby’s age of three as an equal right of each of the baby's parents. It also supplements the current laws with a new type of leave — leave at the birth of a baby lasting up to 14 calendar days, paid by the employer. The draft law proposes to provide such leave not only to a mother, but to one of the following persons: the husband, whose wife gave birth to a child; baby’s father, if he is not officially married to the baby’s mother, but live together, have mutual rights and responsibilities; grandparents, or another adult relative of the child who is actually taking care for him/her.
Another important innovation offered by No. 3695 is the father's right to a reduced working day. Under current law (Article 51 of the Labor Code), a woman has the right to a reduction in working hours if she has children under the age of 14 or a child with a disability. Article 182-1 of the Labor Code establishes additional leave for a woman who works and has two or more children under the age of 15, or a child with a disability, or an adopted child. However, the same rights are not granted to the kid's father. Draft No. 3695 proposes to supplement the above-mentioned articles of the Labor Code with the provision that both parents have the right to reduce working hours and to additional leave.
The authors of the bill emphasize that its main purpose is to withdraw from the legislation the provisions restricting the rights of men and to create preconditions for strengthening the role of a father. Representatives of various political forces worked on this bill. Among the authors are four members of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU. This indicates that there is a consensus in the society that outdated and discriminatory provisions in Ukrainian law should be removed. Instead, the best European and world legislative practices should be implemented in the legislation of Ukraine.
The Committee's opinion on the draft law No. 3695 will be provided at the Committee’s meeting on July 7.