In sum, the statutory provisions will be supplemented and extended to all parents, regardless of gender or family composition for employees under a Dutch employment contract.
Parents are currently entitled to 26 weeks of parental leave per child, which they may take during the first eight years of their child’s life. In principle, this leave is unpaid. Under the proposed legislation, parents will be entitled to 50% of their daily wage (capped at 50% of the statutory maximum daily wage) for the first nine weeks of parental leave. Paid parental leave must be taken in the child’s first year. The remaining 17 weeks of (unpaid) parental leave can be taken up until the child’s eighth birthday. In addition, partners are entitled to five weeks of “additional birth leave” at 70% pay, to be taken within six months from the child’s birth.
As an employer, NautaDutilh wishes to provide even more support to young parents and will therefore offer additional birth leave at 85% pay, rather than the statutorily mandated 70%. This policy will take effect retroactively as of 1 July 2020.
In addition, as from 1 January 2022 (i.e. seven months before the proposed legislation is due to enter into force), NautaDutilh will offer nine weeks of parental leave at 70% pay, rather than 50% as required by law.
"It can be very challenging for new families to find a work-life balance, especially in the first year after welcoming a child. We support young parents at NautaDutilh in various ways and are happy to expand our parental leave policy. For us, supplementing partially paid leave for all parents during the first year of a child's life is simply the right thing to do", says managing partner Petra Zijp.