Changes to paternity leave: extraordinary 10-day leave

CHEVRIER & FAVARI, Avocats à la Cour, assists couples with their family plans, including same-sex parents in matters of adoption or medically assisted procreation (MAP), in order to guarantee them recognition of a parent-child relationship with the child born or to be born.

France, a neighbouring country, has undergone major changes in this area with the entry into force of Law no. 2021-1017 of 2 August 2021 on bioethics, which extended medically assisted procreation to couples of women and to single women, but above all gave new rights to children born as a result of MAP, including the right to be legally recognised by the woman who did not give birth to the child, with the same effects as biological filiation or adoption.

Although Luxembourg does not yet allow such recognition, it has recently extended the right to 10 days’ paternity leave in the event of the birth of a child to persons recognised as the equivalent “second parent” under the national legislation applicable by virtue of the place of residence or nationality of the child or the parent concerned, which authorises them to establish filiation with regard to the child without having to resort to the adoption procedure.

This is a major step forward for same-sex couples, only one of whom is the biological parent at birth, or only one of whom has been able to obtain fostering leave in the event of adoption, since the other member of the couple recognised as the child’s “second parent” or co-parent by the child’s applicable national legislation will now be able to apply for the extraordinary 10-day leave in the event of the birth of a child.

The law of 29 July 2023, which came into force on 22 August 2023, therefore allows a person whose national law authorises the establishment of a child’s filiation, even without having to resort to the adoption procedure, to take advantage of the leave in the event of the child’s birth as long as he or she is able to demonstrate that he or she is officially recognised as the child’s second parent or co-parent.

Another improvement in the new law is that the 10 days of extraordinary leave can now also be taken by self-employed workers.

The legislator has also introduced two new types of extraordinary leave for parents to deal with unforeseen and exceptional family events and to support families in difficult situations. Parents will be entitled to one day’s leave a year in cases of force majeure, and five days a year for those who have to provide care for a person living in the same household.

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