The bill that enshrines “paternal jurisdiction” and extends the parental leave 20 days was approved unanimously by the Labor Legislation and Social Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies and will be voted on by the plenary session in the first session of June.
“This is a bill that accompanies the cultural evolution in terms of changing the traditional paradigm of the roles of parents in caring for children. Paternal leave not only favors the modification of stereotypes, but also recognizes the parent parent, as the natural caregiver of children; and most importantly, it has as a corollary the right of children to be cared for by the father from the moment of birth,” he stated in dialogue with Ambit the deputy of Colorado Party María Eugeni Rosellóco-author of the project with the deputy of the Pedro Jisdonián National Party.
The deputy explained the details of the proposed legal change. “In the current regime, the duration of the paternity leave It is ten continuous days, which will be added, in the case of dependent workers, to the paternity leave of three continuous days with pay, provided for in Law 18,345 (always referring to the birth of a single child, without complexities) . That is, there are a total of 13 continuous days, and for the non-dependent worker, 10 continuous days,” he explained.
“The project proposes a gradual increase in paternity leave, so that, as of January 1, 2026, workers in private activity, dependent and non-dependent, have the right to 20 consecutive days of paternity leave. The gradualness which we refer to consists of two stages. The first stage would begin with the entry into force of the law, and the second stage would begin on January 1, 2026.
For dependent workers, the duration of paternity leave would be 14 continuous days from the effective date of the law, and 17 continuous days from January 1, 2026, keeping in mind that this leave is enjoyed after the license of three continuous days provided for in Law 18,345,” explained Roselló.
For non-dependent workers, the duration of paternity leave would be 15 continuous days from the entry into force of the law and 20 continuous days from January 1, 2026.
It is also proposed to modify Law No. 19,121 in the part that regulates paternity leave for public officials of the central administration. Currently, parental leave is 10 business days. The proposal indicates that the official has the option of choosing 10 business days or 20 continuous days, depending on what is more favorable in each specific case. Furthermore, it is established in “express text” that the maternity leave and paternity leave are “mandatory and inalienable.”
“The International Labor Organization (ILO) has always recommended this to prevent any employer in bad faith from coercing the worker (man or woman) not to take the leave, or to take fewer days,” argued the Ciudadanos deputy.
What does paternal jurisdiction consist of?
“An innovation of the project, something that is not provided for in our positive law, is the so-called paternal jurisdiction: A period of 30 days is established from the reinstatement of paternity leave, during which the worker cannot be fired. If so, the employer must pay three salaries, in addition to the redundancy payment that in each case corresponds. This is also in line with what the ILO recommends to member countries,” added the parliamentarian.
“This was voted unanimously in the Labor Legislation Commission of the Chamber of Deputies and the idea is to discuss it in the plenary session on June 5. We intend for the same thing to happen and for you to have a shorter treatment in the Senate, taking into account the short parliamentary period this year and that it is also unanimous. Furthermore, this project was submitted to the Minister of Labor, Mario Aritzi “which was similar, provided a series of modifications that we took into account.” reported Roselló.
Source: Ambito
