Parents will be able to better combine work and family in the future, as on 30 November employment ministers agreed to strengthen the minimum requirements for parental leave. A new directive will give legal effect to a recent agreement between European employers and trade unions. All employees regardless of their type of contract will enjoy longer periods of leave and better protection against discrimination.

The new rules, to be applied by early 2012, will bring several improvements to the situation of working parents. Each parent will be able to take four months off per child, whereas many EU countries currently offer only three months. At least one month of this leave cannot be transferred from one parent to another. This is to encourage fathers to take on more family responsibilities.

Parents returning from parental leave will have the right to request flexible working arrangements and employers must consider and respond to such requests. Other new elements, as compared with the previous deal between social partners concluded in 1995, include the clarification that fixed-term, part-time and temporary workers are also covered. A qualification period may be required but it must not exceed one year.

Working parents will be protected not only against dismissal but also against less favourable treatment on grounds of taking parental leave. On the whole, the new provisions aim at increasing gender equality by giving women equivalent work opportunities to men.

Although it is the national governments that are mainly responsible for employment policy, the EU has a complementary role in setting minimum labour standards and creating a level playing field for European employers.

Last year, the European Commission adopted a package of measures aimed to improve  work-life balance for millions of EU citizens, both women and men.