Work-life balance
2012: European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations
November 2011
2012 has been declared by the European Commission: European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. Throughout the year, the European Commission will encourage awareness raising, the identification of good practices and the promotion of active ageing in the Member States.
Europeans tend to live longer and stay healthier than ever before. This is of course great news, but it also confronts our society with new challenges. Our current pensions and healthcare systems are not prepared to face the needs of an ageing population. Active ageing aims at enabling people to work longer and support themselves in the respect of individual capacity.
Besides financial considerations, the ageing of the population will affect the whole society in many other ways. One such example is the gender issue. Today still, women’s careers can be set back as they are the main care-providers for older family members. Such situations will be become frequent in an ageing society where more elderly will need care for a longer time – while in parallel, more women will be needed on the labour market. These are the kind of issues for which the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity should encourage policymakers and stakeholders to take action.
The European Parliament voted a favourable revision of the maternity leave directive for new parents
October 2010
A large majority of the Members of the European Parliament voted on 20 October in favour of increasing the minimum maternity leave period to 20 weeks on full pay. This position overcomes the Commission's proposal, which already included an extension of the maternity leave period to 18 weeks. The revision of the maternity leave directive (92/85/EEC) has been launched in 2008 by the European Commission, in order to reach a better balance between work and family life for both women and men.
Thus, the European Parliament also voted in favour of granting the mother's partner the right to take two weeks of parental leave that is non-transferable to the mother. This provision aimed at encouraging the share of child raising responsibilities between the two parents.
The text adopted by the European Parliament will now be considered by the Council of ministers and probably confronted to numerous oppositions of some Member States.
European Social Partners revise the
parental leave agreement
June 2009
European Social Partners have signed on 18 June 2009, in presence of Vladimír Špidla, EU commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, a new Framework Agreement on Family Leave which increases by one month the length of parental leave.
In order to prevent the common practice of transferring the parental leave period from the father to the mother, parental leave is defined as an individual right, so it is, in principle, non-transferable from one parent to the other. Member states are allowed to make it transferable but at least one of the four months shall be provided on a non-transferable basis.
Members States still have to negotiate the measures to be taken in areas such as, notice periods to inform of the leave, childcare or flexible working arrangements. Member States and social partners shall also take the necessary measures to ensure that workers may request changes to their working hours and patterns for a set period of time, when returning to work. In addition, the agreement does not give a clear reference as regards the income, subject which will be discussed at national level.
A better work-life balance:
stronger support for reconciling professional,
private and family life
October 2008
On the 3rd of October, the European Commission has proposed a package of measures to improve work-life balance for all European citizens, both women and men.
The mains goals are:
- To improve conditions for maternity leave. This proposal would increase the minimum period of leave from 14 to 18 weeks, with a recommendation to pay women 100% of their salary and a strengthened protection against dismissal.
- To strengthen social protection measures for self-employed women. They will have equivalent access to maternity leave as for employees, but on a voluntary basis.
- To achieve better and more child care: the objective is to provide childcare for at least 90% of children between the age of three and at least 33% of those under three by 2010.