Bundle of new benefits for parents in 2020
On January 1, 2020, the Act Amending the Parental Protection and Family Benefits Act (ZSDP-1C) came into effect. Among other things, ZSDP-1C grants longer paternity leave to fathers who have twins or multiple children born simultaneously. Fathers of twins will be entitled to an additional 10 days of paternity leave (in addition to the 30 days previously available to fathers with one child). For each additional live birth fathers will be granted up to 10 additional days of paternity leave. This right also extends to the adoption of multiple children that were born simultaneously or several children of different ages that have not yet completed the first grade of primary school.
ZSDP-1C also introduces the right to parental leave for foster parents who can no longer take parental leave (since, for example, the child’s mother and father have already exercised this right in its entirety). If such a foster child has not yet completed the first grade of primary school, the foster parent is entitled to 30 days of parental leave.
Also of note is that ZSDP-1C has removed the provision in the second paragraph of Article 68 of the ZSDP-1, concerning payment of aid at childbirth in cash, since the state estimated that a public tender and the ensuing contract for selecting tenderers and operating this system (i.e. setting up the system, paying bills to selected tenderers, monitoring, etc.) would be uneconomical. At the same time, the amendment also increased the childbirth allowance to EUR 350.00 (up from the previous EUR 286.72).
Parents will thus receive one-time cash benefits when the child/children is/are born, save in cases where the Social Work Center (CSD) assess there is a strong likelihood that the family will not use the money to purchase equipment or supplies for the child(ren) and this would put the child’s/children’s social and economic security at risk. In such cases, the CSD may decide that no individual payment be made in cash.
An additional benefit for parents is also provided by the amendment of Article 165 of the Employment Relationships Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, nr. 21/13, ZDR-1), which determines the cases in which an employee is entitled to paid leave from work (in addition to annual leave) and is in effect from 11 January 2020. Now working parents are entitled to (at least) one working day of paid leave from so they can accompany a first-grader to (elementary) school on the first day of school.
Author: Ana Porenta Vran, Attorney at law
