A provision for granting short-term paternity leave has been proposed for inclusion in the draft Labour Code. This was announced at a press conference by Marina Artyomenko, Deputy Head of the Department of Population, Gender and Family Policy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, in response to a question from a BELTA correspondent.
It is envisaged that granting paternity leave will be mandatory for employers. Its duration will be up to 14 days, at the family's discretion. If the provision is included in the Labour Code, this leave can be taken within the first six months after the child's birth. This social leave will not be paid and cannot be divided into parts.
International experience was taken into account when developing this innovation. Mandatory paternity leave is legally enshrined in 25 countries.
"The most important reserve for increasing family stability is the promotion of responsible parenthood and the involvement of fathers in the process of children's upbringing and development," believes the ministry representative. The interdepartmental working group has developed approaches for granting additional short-term leave for fathers. The group includes representatives from the ministries of education, health, finance, deputies of the House of Representatives, representatives of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus, the Social Protection Fund of the Population, and the Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers).
Commissioned by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Centre for Sociological and Political Studies of Belarusian State University conducted a sociological survey among 1,000 respondents from 78 cities and rural settlements in April-May 2017 to gauge public opinion.
To the question "What is your attitude towards the possibility of introducing paternity leave upon the birth of a child?", 66.2% of respondents answered that they support the introduction of such leave, with 61.2% of men and 70.3% of women responding positively. To the question "Would your family use such leave if it were provided for by law?", 43.9% answered affirmatively, 30.7% negatively, and 24.4% of respondents found it difficult to answer. Among men, 40.4% responded positively to this question, and among women, 46.8%. The largest proportion of positive responses (49.4%) was among people aged 30-44.