Leave and benefits

Parental leave

• The parental leave begins after the maternity leave.
• Parents can agree between themselves how to use the parental leave entitlement.
• Parental leave is 158 days.
• The mother and father can take turns in using parental leave, a maximum of two periods of a minimum of 12 weekdays each.
  • with the exception of families with twins or multiple babies, both parents cannot have the leave at the same time.
  • the mother and father may, however, take partial parental leave at the same time.
• The father can work only on Sundays while on parental leave.
• The mother can work while on parental leave but then she is paid the minimum allowance for working days.
  • Sunday work has no effect on the allowance.

Child care leave and home care allowance

• After parental leave a parent can stay at home on child care leave and receive a home care allowance.
• A family with an under-three-year-old child not in municipal day care is entitled to home care allowance.
• Home care allowance includes:
  • care allowance which is not affected by the family’s income
  • care supplement, which is affected by the family’s total income
  • municipal supplement, depending on the home municipality.
• Right to child care leave is based on Employment Contracts Act.
• Child care leave can be taken in one or two periods of a minimum of one month each – if agreed with the employer, more periods are possible.

Home services

Home services are granted in accordance with Social Welfare Act for temporary support to a family which is unable to function normally due to their family situation, exhaustion, childbirth, disability or some other reason. A family may be granted the service if the criteria is met; the service is not free of charge. Prices are listed on the client fee page. On the same pages you find a calculator for calculating the approximate cost for regular home service.