Parliament agrees on paternity leave even in the event of stillbirth
Published: Wednesday, Jun 12th 2024, 16:30
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The National Council and the Council of States have agreed on the circumstances under which paternity leave should be granted in the event of the stillbirth of a baby. On Wednesday, the National Council agreed with a proposal from the Council of States.
The Swiss parliament wants to grant two weeks' paternity leave if the child is stillborn or dies at birth or in the fortnight following birth. The period of paternity leave runs from stillbirth or death.
Any days of paternity leave already taken will be taken into account. In March, the Council of States amended the wording of a motion by National Councillor Greta Gysin (Greens/TI) accordingly.
The proposal therefore went back to the National Council, which had already approved the matter in principle in June 2023. Following this agreement, the Federal Council was instructed to amend the legislation accordingly.
Protection for traumatized persons
If a child is stillborn or dies at birth, the mother is currently entitled to maternity leave if the pregnancy has lasted at least 23 weeks. The father and, since the introduction of "marriage for all", the other parent have no such entitlement in such a situation under current legislation.
Parliament wants to close this gap. It is a traumatic experience when a child dies at birth or is stillborn, said committee spokesperson Flavia Wasserfallen (SP/BE) in the Council of States in March. Fathers should also be able to take leave if such an event happens to them.
The Federal Council and a minority of the National Council were against it. The Federal Council argued that the aim of maternity leave was also to allow the mother to look after her newborn child and build up the mother-child relationship. However, maternity leave is also intended to allow the mother to recover from the stresses and strains of pregnancy and childbirth. For this reason, a different regulation is justified.
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