Children and paid parental leave

Here you can read more about your options, rights, and obligations in relation to pregnancy, birth, and parenthood.

When you are pregnant or adopting a child and become a parent, you and your partner have the right to leave and income during your parental leave. The rules that apply to you depend on your collective agreement. If you are not covered by a collective agreement, your parental leave will depend on your employment contract and the Act on Salaried Employees’ rules on parental leave.

The main principle in the rules for parental leave are that parents have a combined right to leave and unemployment insurance for 52 weeks. The 52 weeks apply to leave both before and after birth.

Some periods are reserved for the mother and others for the partner, and there are periods that cover both parents. The parents can altogether go on parental leave for up to 112 weeks, but they will only receive unemployment benefits for 52 weeks.

As a starting point, you should be a part of the labour market in order to have the right to parental leave and unemployment insurance.

You must meet one of the following conditions in order to have the right to unemployment insurance:

• You have been connected to the labour market for the last 13 weeks before your parental leave begins and have been working for at least 120 hours.
• You have the right to unemployment insurance or another benefit in its place.
• You have, within the last month, completed a vocational training that has lasted at least 18 months.
• You are a student in a salaried internship at a legally recognized education.