Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers – new era of reconciliation of family and professional life

Directive 2019/1158 introduces a new type of leave, specifically for fathers, to contribute to maintaining a balance between family and professional life. Work-life balance is seen as the way of reaching the principle of gender equality. Fathers are entitled to a certain number of days (10 working days) of paternity leave that can be used “on the occasion of the birth”. That is the minimum defined by the Directive and it may be raised in the legislation of every Member State country. This right is also given to partners in same-sex marriages, for the first time. Another significant part of the Directive is a leave for carers, which is a result of recognizing the need of employees to take care of other members of the family apart from children. In this paper, we argue that paternity leave introduced in this Directive represents a significant step in balancing private and professional life, but it’s only the starting point, and additional changes are required.