Grandparents, friends, or perhaps older siblings… Shortly, (almost) anyone will be able to take time off from work using parental benefits according to a new legislative proposal. We'll guide you through the new rules surrounding parental leave.
Currently, you can only transfer parental days to a spouse or cohabiting partner – not to someone you don't live with or who isn't considered the child's parent. But this is about to change. In June 2023, the government and the Sweden Democrats (SD) passed a proposal for modernized parental insurance (in Swedish). Here's what will apply going forward.
Simplifying Life's Puzzle – Also for Non-Traditional Families and Single Parents
The new rules regarding parental leave aim to make it easier for single parents to balance family life and work by allowing them to transfer days to more people in the child's circle. The idea is also to facilitate family setups where more than just the legal guardians share responsibility for the child. We're getting a more generous framework that simplifies the life puzzle and gives greater attention to the fact that families come in various forms, plain and simple.
Transferable to Relatives, Friends, or Other Close Adults
Under the new proposal, a total of 90 parental days can be transferred to another close caregiver. For parents with shared custody, it's 45 days each. The parents determine whether these days are at the sickness benefit level or the minimum level. As before, the requirement to receive parental benefits is being on leave from work and receiving compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan). So, can anyone take over parental days? Essentially, yes. The proposal mentions "another close adult in the child's life who is not a parent” (Editor's translation). Who falls under this category is practically up to the parents, but in practice, it could include grandparents, siblings, step-siblings, or close friends. The only requirement is that the person taking parental leave has their own income qualifying for sickness cash benefit.
Double Days Are Also Increasing
In addition to this new possibility of transferring days, a couple more changes are in sight. The proposal also includes expanding the so-called double days (when both parents can be on leave with the child). And significantly so: from 30 to 60 days. Furthermore, these double days can be taken over a more extended period, up to 15 months (instead of the current 12 months). More opportunities for parents and children to spend time together during the child's early years, in other words.
The new rules regarding parental leave will come into effect on July 1, 2024
Both aspects of the new parental leave regulations are proposed to take effect on July 1, 2024. They will then apply to all children – regardless of whether they were born before or after the changes were passed. With the new regulations, it's not just employees with children who can take leave with parental benefits. As an employer, it's therefore a good idea to start planning how to update current information and procedures regarding parental leave in your workplace.
Simplify Parental Leave Management with Flex HRM
Do you and your colleagues want to simplify the management of parental leave – and all other personnel administration? Flex HRM is the system that makes it easy to do things right with time reporting and absence, expenses and travel, scheduling, payroll management, and HR processes – all in one cloud-based solution accessible via web and mobile. Contact us if you want to learn more.
