Inclusiveness and Flexibility of Work-Life Balance Policies - rEUsilience Working Paper Series: 5

There is also a difference between employees in the private and public sectors, as a quite long previous insurance period required to access paid parental leave in Belgium (12 months with the same employer within the 15 months before the leave) applies only to employees in the private sector, and parents in the public sector are eligible regardless of the length of previous employment (contractual. [...] With paternity/co-parent leave, time flexibility is still more limited, and the main aspect of flexibility relates to the possibility of fathers/partners to use the leave for a longer period after the birth – this ranges from 1.8 months after the birth in the UK and up to 12 months in Poland. [...] Inclusiveness and Flexibility of Work-Life Balance Policies 24 Parental leave can also be used within a longer time period after the birth, and this period varies from the possibility of using the parental leave until the child turns six in Poland and up to the child’s 18th birthday in the UK. [...] With regard to the inclusiveness of carers’ leaves and the associated benefits, they are primarily intended for employees and are usually allocated on the basis of an assessment of the needs of the person receiving care. [...] Maternity and birth benefits are earnings-related, with the replacement rate being higher at the beginning of the leave: 1) maternity benefit is 82% of previous earnings during the first month of leave and 75% for the remaining weeks; 2) birth benefit is 100% of the previous earnings for the first three days and 82% for remaining days.