Employment Law Updates

Surrogacy & Maternity Leave

The Protection of Maternity of 1997 (L.100(I)/1997) was recently amended so as to include the concept of surrogacy.
Pursuant to the amending legislation (L.116(I)/2017) a female employee who used a surrogate mother has also the right to a maternity leave for 18 consecutive weeks, provided that she provides her Employer with:

1. A Court order declaring that she will have a child through a surrogate mother
2. A medical certificate proving the pregnancy of the surrogate mother

The surrogate mother is also entitled to maternity leave of 14 consecutive weeks.
Finally, the new legislation extended the prohibition on employment termination, so as to cover all female employees who are going to have a child through a surrogate mother.

Surrogacy & Maternity Benefit

The Social Insurance law of 2010 (L. 59(I)/2010) was also recently amended with Law 115(I)/2017, so as to include the provision of maternity allowance (benefit) to surrogate mothers (for 14 consecutive weeks) and to female employees who intend to have children through surrogate mothers (for 18 consecutive weeks

Paternity Leave

Pursuant to Law 117(I)/2017, which is effective from 1/8/2017, new fathers are entitled to paternity leave for 2 consecutive weeks, if they fulfil certain conditions regarding their contributions to the Social Insurance Fund.
The right to a paternity leave is granted to employees:

• Whose wife gave birth to a child;
• Who had a child through a surrogate mother;
• Who adopted a child

Paternity Leave can be taken within a period of 16 weeks from the date of birth provided that they have notified their Employer 2 weeks, prior to the commencement of their paternity leave.

Employers are not obligated to pay any wages to employees during the paternity leave. Employees on paternity leave are paid by the Social Insurance Fund and the relevant allowance is equal to 72% of the employee’s insurable earnings over the previous year and can be increased to 80%, 90% and 100% for one, two or three dependants respectively.