Proposal for husbands to be given at least 10 days off when their wives give birth naturally, double the amount for twins or cesarean section

Secretary General of the National Assembly Bui Van Cuong has just summarized the discussion opinions of full-time National Assembly deputies at the recent 5th conference on the draft Law on Social Insurance (amended).

According to the draft law, male employees participating in social insurance when their wives give birth are entitled to take 5 working days off work to enjoy maternity benefits if their wives give birth naturally, and 7 working days if their wives have to have a cesarean section, or give birth before 32 weeks of age.

In case the wife gives birth to twins, she is entitled to 10 working days off; from the third child onwards, she is entitled to 3 additional working days off for each additional child; in case the wife gives birth to twins by caesarean section, she is entitled to 14 working days off; from the third child onwards, she is entitled to 3 additional working days off for each additional child.

Maternity leave is calculated within the first 60 days from the date the wife gives birth.

According to Mr. Cuong, there are opinions from delegates suggesting increasing the number of days off for male workers to a minimum of 10 days for normal cases and double that for cases of twins or more or those who have to have a cesarean section.

This is to ensure responsibility as well as create conditions for the husband to support his wife in the process of taking care of young children.

At the same time, adjust the regulations on the period of time the husband is entitled to take maternity leave from 60 days to 6 months from the date the wife gives birth.

Previously, giving comments on the draft law at the 5th conference of specialized delegates, delegate To Ai Vang (Soc Trang) made a recommendation on maternity benefits for male workers.

Ms. Vang proposed to study increasing the number of days off to a minimum of 10 days for cases where the wife gives birth normally and double that for cases where the wife gives birth to twins or more, or has a caesarean section, to create conditions for the father to support the mother in the process of taking care of young children.

At the same time, the father's maternity leave should be increased within 6 months from the date his wife gives birth to support the mother in taking care of the child after the mother's maternity leave ends.

Ms. Vang pointed out the current reality in all industrial parks and export processing zones, the majority of young couples live far from their families, do not have support from relatives when giving birth, so they really need the support of their husbands.

In addition, according to Mr. Cuong, there is a proposal to adjust the regulations in the direction that employees who adopt children under 6 months old and do not take time off work will still enjoy maternity benefits like normal birth cases and also to ensure compliance with regulations.

Previously, delegate To Ai Vang also suggested that in the case of employees adopting children under 6 months old and not taking time off work, they would still enjoy maternity benefits like normal childbirth cases.

Because the nature of maternity benefits is to compensate part of the employee's income when having to take care of children and is paid on the principle of contribution and benefit.

She said if workers have fully paid social insurance according to regulations, they should be entitled to equal benefits like other cases.

Ms. Vang also proposed increasing the time off to take care of sick children for those under 16 years old, or stipulating that employees are entitled to sick leave as stipulated in the draft law.

She stated that the Law on Children stipulates that children are people under 16 years old and in reality, when children are sick, parents often have to take time off to take care of them. There are even many cases where children have incurable or chronic illnesses or are hospitalized, and parents also have to take time off work to take care of their children.