General
On the basis of the Work and Care Act (Wet arbeid en zorg), you are entitled to parental leave if you meet the following conditions:
- you are in a family relationship with a child or live at the same address as the child for whom you are taking parental leave and have permanently taken on the care and upbringing of that child;
- the child for whom you are taking the leave has not yet reached the age of 8 years;
- you have not yet taken 26 weeks of parental leave for the child in question with your current or a previous employer.
Per child the parental leave amounts to a maximum of 26 times the weekly working hours.
Both parents, in their own right, are entitled to parental leave for the same child. Entitlement to parental leave also applies for adoptive children, foster children and stepchildren who live with you (this must be evidenced by the Municipal Personal Records Database) and for whom you have permanently taken on the care and upbringing.
In case of multiple births, or if you have taken on the care and upbringing of more than one child through adoption with effect from the same date, you are entitled to parental leave and partially paid parental leave for each of those children. For foster and stepchildren, there is only one entitlement to leave in this situation.
Since 2 August 2022, the Work and Care Act provides for partially paid parental leave of up to 9times the weekly working hours until the child reaches the age of 1. For parents of adopted or fostered children, this right applies during the first year of the actual adoption (provided the child is under eight years old). After 9 times the weekly working hours of paid parental leave have been taken and/or the child has reached the age of 1, statutory parental leave is unpaid leave.
When taking parental leave in the child's first year of life, you are entitled to a benefit under the Work and Care Act. This benefit amounts to 70% of your salary up to the maximum that applies under social security legislation. This benefit is payable by your employer. You are obliged to cooperate with the application to UWV for this benefit.
Supplementary regulation under the collective agreement for Dutch Universities (cao-nu)
The cao-NU uses the same eligibility criteria for parental leave as the Work and Care Act.
As an employee to whom the cao-NU applies, you will receive 70% of your usual salary for the hours for which you have parental leave as long as the child for whom you are requesting parental leave has not yet reached the age of 1 year, for a maximum of 13times (instead of 9times) the weekly working hours. If the child has reached the age of 1 and you have not yet taken 13 times the weekly working hours, you will receive 62.5% of your salary for the remaining part over the hours of parental leave. Pension accrual with ABP continues and the university continues to contribute to your pension premium. You only accrue statutory vacation hours over partially paid parental leave.
Following the parental leave on partial pay, you can take up to 13 times your weekly working hours of unpaid parental leave. You will then receive no salary for the hours for which you take parental leave and you will not accrue vacation leave. Your pension accrual will continue, but the full pension premium (employer’s and employee’s share) for the hours of leave will be charged to you. As far as possible, the payroll administration will deduct this premium directly from your salary. If that is not possible, e.g. because you have taken unpaid parental leave for the full scope of your employment, you will receive an invoice.
Previously taken paid or unpaid (also with another employer) parental leave for the same child is deducted from the credit. If you leave your job before the full parental leave balance has been taken, you can take the remainder with a subsequent employer. For more information on parental leave, please refer to Chapter 4, Section 4 of the collective labour agreement.
Requesting parental leave
You must notify us in writing of your intention to take parental leave at least two months in advance, specifying the period you would like to take parental leave, the number of hours per week and how the leave will be spread throughout the week. We recommend that you discuss your desire to take parental leave with your immediate supervisor before requesting it through the Leave Portal in MyHR.
