24 Amendments of Danuta JAZŁOWIECKA 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 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 74 #
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 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. Furthermore, the availability of quality, accessible, and affordable infrastructure for the care of children and other dependants has proven to be a crucial factor for work-life balance policies that facilitate the rapid return of new mothers to, and an increasing participation of women in the labour market.
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 118 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) In order to encourage a more equal sharing of caring responsibilities between women and men, the right to paternity leave for fathers to be taken within the first year of a child’s life, preferably on the occasion of the birth or adoption of a child should be introduced. In order to take account of differences among Member States, the right to paternity leave should be irrespective of marital or family status as defined in national law. In order to deter potential abuse, the Member States should be able to introduce a requirement of a minimum period of service before a worker is entitled to benefit from that right, with a maximum duration of one year.
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 134 #
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 taking into account in particular the constraints of micro, small and medium-sized businesses, a reasonable 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 order to deter potential abuse, the Member States should be able to introduce a requirement of a minimum period of service before the worker is entitled to benefit from that right, with a maximum duration of one year. 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, 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, in particular with regard to children with disabilities, serious medical conditions or illness, in accordance with their national law and practice.
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 172 #
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 relative in need of care or support dependant relativeue to a serious medical reason should have the right to take time off from work in the form of carers' leave to take care of that relative. To prevent abuse of that right, medical proof of the serious illness or dependency maymedical reason should be required prior to granting of the leave.
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) In order to encourage working parents and carers to remain in the work force, those workers should be able to adapt their working schedules to their personal needs and preferences. Working parents and carers should therefore be able to request flexible working arrangements, meaning the possibility for workers to adjust their working patterns, including through the use of remote working arrangements, flexible working schedules, or a reduction in working hours, for caring purposes. In order to deter potential abuse, the Member States should be able to introduce a requirement of a minimum period of service before a worker is entitled to benefit from that right, with a maximum duration of one year. In order to address the needs of workers and employers, it should be possible for Member States to limit the duration of flexible working arrangements, including a reduction in working hours. While working part-time has been shown to be useful in allowing some women to remain in the labour market after having children, long periods of reduced working hours may lead to lower social security contributions translating into reduced or non-existing pension entitlements. The ultimate decision as to whether or not to accept a worker’s request for flexible working arrangements should lie with the employer, Specific circumstances underlying the need for flexible working arrangements can change. Workers should therefore not only have the right to return to their original working patterns at the end of a given agreed period, but should also be able to request to do so at any time where a change in the underlying circumstances so requires.
Amendment 220 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Workers exercising their rights to leave or to request flexible working arrangements should be protected against discrimination or any less favourable treatment on that ground. At the same time, in order to ensure balance between the interests of employers and workers, Member States should ensure that employers are protected against any abuse of such rights and detrimental effects for the functioning of companies, taking into account in particular the constraints of micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
Amendment 279 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1
This Directive applies to all workers, men and women, who have an employment contract or employment relationship as defined by law, collective agreement and/or practices in force in each Member State.
Amendment 284 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) "paternity leave" means paid leave from work for fathers to be taken on the on the grounds of the birth or adoption of a child, to be taken within the first year, of the child’s life, preferably on the occasion of the birth or adoption of a child;
Amendment 328 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(ca) "carers' leave" means leave from work for carers in order to provide personal care or support to a relative in need of care or support due to a serious medical reason;
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 345 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point e
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point e
Amendment 375 #
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 paternity leave of at least ten working days within the first year of a child’s life, preferably on the occasion of the birth or adoption of a child.
Amendment 383 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Member States may make the right to paternity leave subject to a period of work qualification or a length of service qualification not exceeding one year. In the case of successive fixed-term contracts, within the meaning of Council Directive 1999/70/EC1a, with the same employer, the sum of those contracts shall be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the qualifying period. __________________ 1a Council Directive of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP (OJ L 175, 10.7.1999, p. 43)
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 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 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.