Eight weeks paid parental leave to be paid for all parents

Parents with children up to eight years old will be eligible for eight weeks of paid leave, Labour Minister Kyriacos Koushos said on Tuesday.

Following cabinet’s approval of a relevant bill on parental leave, Koushos said that it provides for eight of the 18 weeks of parental leave currently provided to every parent for every child of up to eight years, which will now be paid by the social insurance fund.

This applies to every parent, regardless of marital status.

Two weeks paid paternity leave, already established in 2017, was also among the provisions of the bill, Koushos said. Since its introduction, paternity leave is given to married couples or those who signed a civil partnership agreement.

Furthermore, there will be five days of unpaid care per year and seven unpaid absence days for reasons of force majeure linked to urgent family reasons.