EU report shows need for paid paternal leave

More Maltese fathers would seize the opportunity and take up parental leave to care for their children if they were given some form of remuneration, an EU-sponsored joint report has found.

Fathers believe they should be compensated to care for their children and say that even a fraction of their remuneration could boost the dismal parental leave uptake in Malta by men.

A study carried out by the Department For Women In Society in 2003 on The Impact Of Parental Leave, Career Break And Responsibility Leave In The Maltese Public Sector confirms that the uptake of parental leave and career breaks is largely dominated by women (98.4 per cent against 1.6 per cent by men). The data highlight the reluctance of men and possibly women to move from their traditional gender stereotyped roles.

The EU joint report is based on qualitative research with fathers who have taken leave, employers and decision makers in Lithuania, Iceland, Denmark and Malta. The research is part of an international project called Modern Men In Enlarged Europe: Developing Innovative Gender Equality Strategies, which was implemented within the programme relating to the Community Framework Strategy on Gender Equality.

As long as parental leave remains largely the domain of women, employers are likely to continue putting women on the "mommy" track and men on the fast track. Parental leave policies on their own will do nothing to challenge the traditional gender stereotypes, the report points out.

While one-year parental leave per parent exists in the public sector, this is greatly reduced to three months per parent in the private sector. Those interviewed for the report believe it would be beneficial to reduce the gap between the two sectors, particularly by increasing leave entitlement for those working in the private sector. The Maltese suggested the introduction of a father's quota, wherein a certain number of weeks/months are allocated and reserved exclusively for the father's use. Should the father refuse to make use of the prescribed quota, the couple would then forfeit their right to use that part of the parental leave allocated to the father.

The law within the private sector gives much of the prerogative for awarding leave to the employer who has the right to refuse or postpone requests for parental leave.

Fathers said they were aware that such leave might create a burden on the employers and therefore believe the government should carry some of the weight in financing part of the expenditure.

Maltese fathers underlined the need to make the public aware that there exists a legal right for them to take time off work to care for their children.

Most informants said they were met with generally positive, albeit not overly enthusiastic reactions to the idea of male parental leave.

Some respondents said they were reluctant over the idea of such leave because their work colleagues resented having to do their share of the work. Others said that friends and colleagues regarded their decision as weird, and "not something a man should do".

The Employment and Training Corporation will be holding a seminar with the theme Men On Parental Leave on December 15.

Legal right to parental leave

Public sector:
Parental leave duration: One year plus one-off three year-career break.

Right to leave from salaried work: At birth, adoption or fostering a child. Ends when the child is five years old.

Economic compensation: None.

Private sector:
Parental leave duration: Maternity leave - 14 weeks. Paternity leave - Three months.

Right to leave from salaried work: At birth, adoption or legal custody of a child. Ends when the child is eight years old.

Economic compensation: Maternity leave - 13 weeks on full pay; one week unpaid. Three months paternal leave - unpaid.

Provisions made by the Employment and Industrial Relations Act 2002:

¤ Parental leave may be availed of either at a stretch (three months) or in three parts of one month each.

¤ The employer may postpone granting parental leave where work is of a seasonal nature, where no replacement can be found, where the employee is of strategic importance to the company, where the business has fewer than 10 employees and where a substantial number of employees apply for parental leave at the same time.

¤ Right to return to same/similar job after parental leave.

¤ Protection against dismissal.

¤ Part-timers are entitled to pro rata parental leave benefits.