President Andrzej Duda signed an amendment to the Labor Code, which extends maternity leave for parents of premature babies and children requiring hospitalization after birth.
The amendment introduces the legal system in addition to the existing one maternity leaveleave under the terms of maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave new institution – supplementary maternity leave.
Who is the new maternity leave for?
Extended maternity leave will be available to parents of children born before the 28th week of pregnancy or those who weighed less than 1,000 g on the day of birth, in the amount of one week of supplementary maternity leave for each week of the child's stay in hospital, up to a maximum of 15 weeks.
For parents of children born before the 36th week of pregnancy or born at term but requiring hospitalization, one week of supplementary maternity leave for each week of the child's stay in hospital, up to a maximum of eight weeks. In the event of the birth of more than one child at one delivery, the weight of the child with the lowest birth weight and the length of hospital stay of the child hospitalized the longest will be taken into account when determining the amount of supplementary maternity leave.
Rounding the week up
The regulations specify that to determine the amount of supplementary maternity leave, the periods of the child's stay in hospital until the 8th week or 15th week after delivery will be added up, and a partial week will be rounded up to a full week. This regulation takes into account the intervals between subsequent hospitalizations of the child. The leave is to be granted to mothers or fathers, as well as legal guardians, foster parents and adoptive parents. The amount paid during additional leave maternity benefit will be 100 percent its basics. The amendment will enter into force after 3 months from the date of publication in the Journal of Laws.
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