21 Amendments of Romana TOMC related to 2017/0085(COD)
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Equality between men and women is a fundamental principle of the Union. According to Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union the promotion of equality between women and men is one of the Union's aims and according to Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union equality between women and men should be promoted in all activities of the European Union. Similarly, Article 23 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union requires equality between women and men to be ensured in all areas, including employment, work and pay.
Amendment 28 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3 a (new)
Recital 3 a (new)
(3a) Nothing in this Directive can be construed as affecting the exclusive competence of the Member States in defining the right to marry and right to found a family, in compliance with Article 9 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
Amendment 40 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Work-life balance policies should contribute to the achievement of gender equality of access to work by promoting the participation of women in the labour market and the participation of men in childcare, making it easier for men to share caring responsibilities on an equal basis with women, and closing gender gaps in earnings, pay and payensions. Such policies should take into accountckle negative demographic changes including the effects of an ageing population.
Amendment 43 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
(5a) Work-life balance policies should also reflect the fact that a sufficient number of caring facilities for both children and dependent relatives are a key prerequisite of increased participation of women in the labour market. Further complementary action is required to assure a holistic work-life balance environment. To this end the Union should support Member States in striving to achieve the objectives set at the European Council in Barcelona for childcare facilities in March 2002, in introducing other voluntary instruments, including incentives for employers to provide care facilities for workers, and in removing economic disincentives for second earners which prevent women from accessing the labour market or working full-time. The Union should use the European semester to support such action of Member States with due regard to Member States’ commitments to strengthen public finances.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) The current Union legal framework provides limited incentives for men to assume an equal share of caring responsibilities. Lack of paid paternity and parental leave in many Member States contributes to the low take-up of such leave by fathers. The imbalance in the design of work-life balance policies between women and men reinforces gender differences between women and men across work and care. Conversely, use of work-life balance arrangements by fathers, such as leave or flexible working arrangements, has been shown to have a positive impact in reducing the relative amount of unpaid family work undertaken by women and leaving them more time for paid employment. The Directive fully respects the freedom and preferences of individuals and families to organise their lives and does not impose on them any obligation to use the benefit of its provisions.
Amendment 111 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) This Directive should apply to all workers who have employment contracts or other employment relationships. As is currently the case under Clause 2(3) of the Annex to Directive 2010/18/EU, this should include contracts relating to employment or employment relationships of part-time workers, fixed-term contract workers or persons with a contract of employment or employment relationship with a temporary agency. The Union should encourage Member States to extend the enjoyment of the rights set forth by this Directive to the self-employed through national legislative measures. This should especially apply in regard to the self-employed who contribute with their earnings to coverage schemes that finance compensation for the leaves. Member States should be encouraged to develop systems which would enable the self-employed to contribute to such coverage schemes.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) As the majority of fathers do not avail themselves of their right to parental leave or transfer a considerable proportion of their leave entitlement to mothers, in order to encourage the second parent to take parental leave, this Directive, while maintaining the right of each parent to at least four months of parental leave currently provided for by Directive 2010/18/EU, extends from one to four months introduces an alternative for Member States to the current one monthe period of parental leave which cannot be transferred from one parent to the other. The alternative shall consist in granting an additional two months leave to parents who share at least half of the total parental leave period granted to them by national law, which should motivate parents in sharing caring responsibilities, while maintaining reasonable flexibility of specific family arrangements.
Amendment 138 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) In order to provide greater possibility for parents to use parental leave as their children grow up, the right to parental leave should be granted until the child is at least twelveeight years old. Member States should be able to specify the period of notice to be given by the worker to the employer when applying for parental leave and to decide whether the right to parental leave may be subject to a certain period of service. In view of the growing diversity of contractual arrangements, the sum of successive fixed-term contracts with the same employer should be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the period of service. To balance the needs of workers with those of employers, Member States should also be able to decide whether they define if the employer may be allowed to postpone the granting of parental leave under certain circumstances. In such cases, the employer should provide justification for the postponement. Given that flexibility makes it more likely that second parents, in particular fathers,Workers should also have the possibility to return to work earlier than the intended and reported period of parental leave, especially if the reason of the premature return does not depend on the will of the worker and if earlier return is not excessively burdensome for the employer. Given that flexibility makes it more likely that both parents will take up their entitlement to such leave, workers should be able to request to take parental leave on a full-time or part-time basis or in other flexible forms. It should be up to the employer whether or not to accept such a request for parental leave in other flexible forms than full-time. Member States should also assess if the conditions and detailed arrangements of parental leave should be adapted to the specific needs of parents in particularly disadvantaged situations, especially parents having a disability and parents with children with a disability or long-term illness requiring more care.
Amendment 160 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) In order to facilitate the return to work following parental leave, workers and employers should be encouraged to voluntarily maintain contact during the period of leave and may make arrangements for any appropriate reintegration measures, to be decided between the parties concerned, taking into account national law, collective agreements and practice. Workers who do not wish to maintain contact should not be discriminated against in any way. It should be made clear that employees who do not wish to maintain contact should not be obliged to do so.
Amendment 175 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) In order to provide greater opportunities to remain in the work force for men and women carrying of elderly family member and/or other relatives in need of care, workers with a seriously ill or dependant relative should have the right to take time off from work in the form of carers' leave to take care of that relative. The Union should encourage Member States to adopt a more extensive interpretation of “relative” for the purpose of carer’s leave than that set forth in this Directive, without prejudice to the exclusive competence of Member States to define the right to marry and right to found a family, in compliance with Article 9 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. To prevent abuse of that right, proof of the serious illness or dependency may be required prior to granting of the leave.
Amendment 215 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) Leave arrangements are intended to support working parents and carers during a specific period of time, and are aimed at maintaining and promoting their continued attachment to the labour market. It is therefore appropriate to make express provision for the protection of the employment rights of workers taking leave covered by this Directive and in particular their right to return to the same or an equivalent post, and not to suffer any detriment in their terms and conditions as a result of their absence. Workers should retain their entitlement to relevant rights already acquired, or in the process of being acquired, until the end of such leave. Equally important is the goal of leave arrangements to ensure that working parents maintain quality of family life, by taking care of their children, carrying out their responsibilities, including their primary educational role, especially during early childhood, in the best possible way and by spending quality time with their children. An ineffective reconciliation of family and professional life can also have a negative impact on the physical and mental health of children and parents.
Amendment 336 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) "relative" means a worker's son, daughter, mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, spouse or partner in civil partnership, where such partnerships are envisaged by national law, and relative of the worker’s spouse;
Amendment 369 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that fathers have the right to take paid paternity leave of at least ten working days on the occasion of the birth of a child. Member States shall impose a proportional time frame following the birth of a child within which the paternity leave must be exhausted. Such time frame shall not be less than 6 weeks following the birth of a child.
Amendment 384 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Member States shall consider introducing the possibility of fathers to take additional unpaid paternity leave provided that this is not excessively burdensome for the employer.
Amendment 407 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that workers have an individual right to parental leave of at least four months to be taken before the child reaches a given age which shall be at least twelveeight.
Amendment 417 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Article 5 – paragraph 2
2. Where Member States allow one parent to transfer their parental leave entitlement to the other parent, they shall ensure that at least fourone months of parental leave cannot be transferred, or, alternatively, provide an additional two months leave to parents who share at least half of the total parental leave period granted to them by national law.
Amendment 441 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5
Article 5 – paragraph 5
5. Member States may define the circumstances in which an employer, following consultation in accordance with national law, collective agreements and/or practice, may be allowed to postpone the granting of parental leave by a reasonable period of time on the grounds that it would seriously disrupt the good functioning of the establishment. Employers shall justify any postponement of parental leave in writing. In case of justified postponement of parental leave, the employer shall, where possible, offer flexible forms of parental leave pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article.
Amendment 560 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 2
Article 9 – paragraph 2
2. Employers shall consider and respond to requests for flexible working arrangements referred to in paragraph 1, taking into account the needs of both employers and workers. Employers shall justify any refusal of such a request in writing.
Amendment 576 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 2
Article 10 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall ensure that, at the end of leave referred to in Article 4, 5 or 6, workers are entitled to return to their jobs or to obtain equivalent posts on terms and conditions which are no less favourable to them and which correspond to the employment contract, and to benefit from any improvement in working conditions to which they would have been entitled during their absence.
Amendment 638 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Member States may introduce or maintain provisions that are more favourable to workers than those laid down in this Directive, provided that such provisions are not excessively burdensome for employers, especially small and middle sized enterprises. They shall however ensure that at least fourone months of parental leave remains non-transferable in accordance with Article 5(2).
Amendment 651 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17 a Dialogue with relevant stakeholders With a view to promoting the objectives of this Directive, the European Union and its Member States shall encourage dialogue with relevant stakeholders, in particular with parents and family associations, employers and trade unions.