Rejected petition Legally increase paid paternity pay from 2 weeks to 6 weeks for all employers
At the moment, the maximum of paid paternity leave fathers can claim from their employers is 2 weeks. This is not enough time for father and baby after the birth, especially in instances that mum has had a c-section emergency or elective. Their recovery is 6 weeks long and dads often have to obtain a GP sick note in order to stay off work longer not only to care for baby but also care for their recovering partner.
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We should follow many European countries who have much better paternity leave;
Lithuania - Fathers receive 30 days of paid paternity leave at 77.58% of their regular earnings.
Spain - Fathers receive 16 weeks of paid paternity leave, including a mandatory 6 weeks immediately after birth.
France - Fathers receive 25 calendar days of paternity leave, including a mandatory 4 days immediately after birth.
Iceland - Offers a very balanced system where both parents can take six months of leave each, totaling 12 months of parental leave.
Sweden - Parents are entitled to 480 days paid parental leave between them, with each parent entitled to 240 of these days while 90 of the days are reserved exclusively for each one.
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the Senedd or Welsh Government is not responsible for.
The Government of Wales Act 2006 establishes the extent of the Senedd’s power to make new laws and amend existing law (also known as legislative competence). Schedules 7A and 7B of the 2006 Act set out the issues which are ‘restricted’ or ‘reserved’ - i.e. areas where the UK Parliament, not the Senedd, can legislate.
Paragraph 141 of Schedule 7A to GoWA reserves employment rights and duties. Statutory paternity pay is considered a ‘social security scheme’ and paragraph 130 of Schedule 7A to GoWA reserves social security schemes supported from public funds.
Further information about the powers and responsibilities of the Senedd can be found here: https://senedd.wales/how-we-work/our-role/powers/
You may wish to consider petitioning the UK Parliament about this issue instead: https://petition.parliament.uk/
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards
Rejected petitions are published in the language in which they were submitted