Poland has extended the maternity leave entitlement by up to 15 weeks of additional leave for parents of prematurely born babies or babies born at term but requiring longer hospitalization after birth. This new entitlement, referred to in the amended Labor Code as “additional maternity leave,” will be available to qualifying working mothers, fathers, legal guardians, foster parents, or adoptive parents from 19 March 2025.
Background
The new leave entitlement aims to provide additional support for families facing challenges on the life and health of their newborns and is intended to supplement the standard maternity leave entitlement.
Standard maternity leave for biological mothers and fathers, and foster or adoptive parents: Under Polish law, not only mothers, but also fathers, and foster or adoptive parents may be eligible to take standard maternity leave under specific circumstances. Currently, a female employee who has given birth to a child or an employee (regardless of gender) who has taken guardianship of a child (as a foster or adoptive parent) is entitled to between 20 weeks and 37 weeks of standard maternity leave, depending on the number of births or simultaneous adoptions.
Female employees must use a minimum of 14 weeks of standard maternity leave and may opt to transfer the remaining amount to the father to be used as standard maternity leave.
Under special circumstances, such as the death of the mother, a portion of standard maternity leave may also be used by the father (see more information on the website of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy (the “Ministry”) here (opens a new window)).
Key details
Under the Bill, both female and male employees who are the biological parents are entitled to additional maternity leave immediately after the completion of standard maternity leave following the birth of a child. This also applies to foster or adoptive parents, regardless of gender, if the child’s hospitalization occurs after the foster or adoptive parent has taken guardianship of the child.
Eligible parents may qualify for up to eight or 15 weeks of additional maternity leave, depending on:
The week of pregnancy in which the child is born
The child’s birth weight
The period of the child’s hospitalization
The table below sets out the respective entitlements for the different categories of parents eligible for additional maternity leave.
Category of parents eligible for additional maternity leave | Rate of entitlement to additional maternity leave | Maximum number of weeks of additional maternity leave |
Parents of children born before the completion of the 28th week of pregnancy | One week of additional maternity leave for each week of the child’s hospitalization | Up to a maximum of 15 weeks |
Parents of children born weighing no more than 1,000 grams at birth | ||
Parents of children born after the 28th week and before the completion of the 37th week of pregnancy and weighing more than 1,000 grams at birth | One week of additional maternity leave for each week of the child’s hospitalization | Up to a maximum of eight weeks |
Parents of children born after the 37th week of pregnancy if (i) the child requires hospitalization at any time between the fifth day to the end of the eighth week after birth, and (ii) the child’s hospitalization will be for at least two consecutive days within the period from the fifth day to the 28th day after birth | One week of additional maternity leave for each week of the child’s hospitalization within the period from the fifth day to the end of the eighth week after birth | Up to a maximum of eight weeks |
When determining the length of additional maternity leave:
For multiple births, the lowest birth weight and the longest period of hospitalization shall be taken into account.
If a child has more than one period of hospitalization within eight or 15 weeks (as applicable) after birth, the periods of successive hospitalizations will be added up.
Any partial week of hospitalization will be rounded up to a full week.
An eligible parent may take additional maternity leave in a single block, immediately following the completion of standard maternity leave. This means that standard maternity leave must be utilized, whether as the biological mother, as the biological father using maternity leave transferred to him, or as a foster or adoptive parent, before additional maternity leave can be consumed.
The additional maternity leave must be granted by the employer upon request, which means that parents must submit an application to their employers if they wish to exercise their entitlement. Applications must be submitted in paper or electronic form no later than 21 days before the end of maternity leave, specify the end date of maternity leave, and include a medical certificate stating the week of pregnancy in which the child was born, the child's birth weight and information on the duration of the child's hospital stay.
The allowance for the period of additional maternity leave is to be paid through social insurance at 100% of the allowance basis, with no upper limit on payments. The allowance basis is the average monthly remuneration paid to the employee over 12 calendar months (or if the period of employment was shorter, the full calendar months for which insurance contributions were paid) prior to the month in which the child is born or taken for upbringing.
Employer action: ACT
Employers should review and start preparing updates to their family leave policies and procedures, as needed, to reflect the introduction of the new additional maternity leave entitlement. In particular, policies should be updated to reflect the abovementioned specific requirements for an employee’s application for additional maternity leave.
Employers should also monitor the release of any related guidance from the Ministry and the Social Insurance Institution (“ZUS”). Information on parenthood-related rights on the Ministry’s website here (opens a new window) and on ZUS’s website here (opens a new window) is expected to be updated to include additional maternity leave.
Act of 6 December 2024 Amending the Labor Code and Certain Other Acts (opens a new window)
