Family leave

You and your family can receive benefits, that is, financial support from Kela, during family leave. In addition, collective agreements in many sectors include terms stating that your employer pays for a certain part of parental leave, such as for 3 months. If you receive pay during your family leave, Kela will pay your allowance to your employer.

Notify your employer of parental or childcare leave at least two months before your planned start date.

The allowance from Kela must be separately applied for. You can fill in the application in Kela’s e-service or at a Kela office.

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Kela: Families

Pregnancy leave

If you are the parent giving birth, you are entitled to pregnancy leave and pregnancy allowance. Usually, pregnancy leave starts 30 working days before your child’s expected due date, but you can also agree with your employer on a later start date. Your leave must begin no later than 14 working days before your child’s expected date of birth.

Kela pays a pregnancy allowance for 40 working days, regardless of the actual date of birth. If your child is born before you take your pregnancy leave, the payment of the pregnancy allowance will start on the working day following the child’s birth.

Working days include days from Monday to Saturday, excluding public holidays. A weekday holiday is a public holiday that falls on a day other than Sunday.

After pregnancy leave, you are entitled to parental leave and allowance. Either parent who cares for their child can take parental leave. You can also work part-time and receive a partial parental allowance.

Special pregnancy allowance

You are entitled to a special pregnancy allowance if you need to be absent from work before the actual pregnancy allowance period due to exposure to any of the following in your work:

• chemical substances
• radiation
• infectious disease
• physical and physiological factors, such as noise, vibrations, shocks, movement, handling of loads, and mental and physical exertion.

The prerequisite is that these risk factors cannot be avoided in your work, and your employer is unable to arrange other work for you during your pregnancy. Another requirement is that you are able to work.

Parental leave

To receive a parental allowance, you need to be caring for your child and be absent from work. You are entitled to parental allowance if you’re the child’s parent and guardian. You can be the child’s biological or adoptive parent. One or both parents can be entitled to parental allowance.

A parental allowance is paid for a total for 320 working days based on a single child. If a child has two parents entitled to receive a parental allowance, the parental allowance days will be divided evenly between the parents: 160 working days for each parent.

It is possible to receive flexible parental allowance until the child reaches the age of two. Employees can divide their parental leave into four periods of at least 12 working days.

Parents can receive a parental allowance simultaneously for up to 18 working days if they care for their child at the same time.

Transferring parental leave

You can transfer at most 63 working days of your 160 parental allowance days to another person who cares for your child. You can transfer days to:

• the child’s other parent;
• your spouse, who is not the child’s parent;
• the spouse of the child’s other parent; or
• the child’s other guardian.

“Spouse” means a married spouse, cohabiting partner or a registered partner.

Kela must be notified of the transfer of parental allowance days.

Partial parental allowance

If you care for a child for part of a day and work part-time at the same time, you can apply for a partial parental allowance. Your daily working hours may not exceed 5 hours per day.

If you work more hours, you will not be entitled to any parental allowance, and your parental allowance days will be postponed to a later date.

Child care leave

After parental leave, you can take child care leave to care for your child at home. You can stay on a child care leave until your child turns 3 years of age.

Kela pays a child home care allowance for children under the age of 3. The caretaker can be one of the parents or someone else, such as a grandparent or a hired nanny. You won’t be eligible for home care allowance if your child attends early childhood education provided by the municipality, such as daycare.

Part-time child care leave

You can also work part-time and take the care of your child at home by taking a part-time child care leave. You will receive less pay, but Kela will pay you a flexible care allowance. Kela pays flexible care allowance for children under the age of 3.

You can receive a partial care allowance if you work shorter days, i.e. work less, when your child starts school. Partial care allowance is paid for a child in grade 1 or 2.

If you are pregnant or on family leave, you must not be discriminated against. For example, your employer cannot terminate your employment due to:

• your pregnancy
• you being on family leave
• you telling the employer that you intend to take family leave.

After family leave, you have the right to return to the same duties as before. If this is not possible, the employer must provide you with work that corresponds to your previous work to the extent possible. If this is not possible, you must be offered other work in accordance with your employment contract.