Poland: Additional Maternity Leave is Coming for Parents of Premature Babies and Parents of Babies Requiring Extended Hospitalization After Birth

The Council of Ministers approved a draft law prepared by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy introducing a new entitlement – additional maternity leave for parents of premature babies and parents of children born on time, but requiring prolonged hospitalization after birth. The dimension of the supplementary maternity leave will be up to 8 or up to 15 weeks, respectively. The effective date of the new regulations is not yet known.

The draft law is to introduce a new entitlement – additional maternity leave for parents whose child is born prematurely or requires an extended stay in the hospital, up to 8 or up to 15 weeks.

Additional maternity leave will be available in one part, immediately after the basic maternity leave. The additional leave will be granted upon employee’s request, meaning that it will be the parents themselves who will decide whether they want to use it. The new entitlement will also cover adoptive parents and foster families.

Maternity benefit for the period of additional maternity leave will be 100 percent of the benefit base.

The amount of additional maternity leave will depend on the period of hospitalization of the child, the week of pregnancy in which the child is born and the child’s birth weight.

The effective date of the new regulations is not yet known.