Joint call from civil society to support the swift progress on Work-Life Balance Directive

07.12.17

Today MMM with 9 other civil society networks and organisations representing millions of children, young people, adults and families across the EU issue a joint statement asking the Council to continue negotiating on the work life balance directive proposal without watering it down and remove any barriers slowing down its approval.

On 26 April 2017, the European Commission proposed a Directive to “support work-life balance for parents and carers”, a topic that will be on the agenda of the upcoming EPSCO Council (Employment and social affairs Council) of 7 December 2017.

We have been calling for such an initiative for a number of years and we welcome the proposal because we strongly believe it could have a real impact. The current legal and institutional framework fails to sufficiently address problems faced by parents and carers on a daily basis, and does not provide adequate solutions for the needs of modern societies (i.e. an ageing population, the gender pay and pension gap, and equality in the labour market).

The proposal for a Directive on Work-Life Balance is the right way forward and it must now be swiftly approved and followed up with enforcement and monitoring. Some of the measures included are particularly helpful, such as the introduction of paid paternity leave of ten days, paid carers’ leave, non-transferable paid parental leave (at sick leave level), and the right to request flexible working conditions. These will bring real changes to the lives of many Europeans.

The full statement

Most read articles

In this together: Share the Care, Transform Tomorrow

02.07.22

UN New York, HLPF - Join us on July 11th for a discussion on how #SharingTheCare at every level - family, community, governments and private sector - is vital for

Lire plus

Making the case for Gender Equal Parenting: Vital for Early Childhood Development and a transformative tomorrow

04.10.22

At MMM, we believe that sharing the invisible work of caring and educating children more equitably is a quadruple win: essential for early child development (ECD), beneficial for both men

Lire plus

Leave no single mother Behind: solutions from across the world

05.02.23

UN New York, CSocD61 - The virtual event we are organizing as part of the 2023 UN Commission on Social Development will draw attention to the specificity of the situation

Lire plus
See all the articlesof the category

News from the European Delegation on the Reconciliation of work and family life

MMM seeks academic partner for new EU Survey

06.12.22

We are searching for an academic partner for an EU survey on issues concerning mothers to be used as a lever for change.

Read more

MMM contributes to EU Care Strategy

18.05.22

In these unprecedented times, when Europe is navigating a global pandemic, when political tensions are boiling over threatening to destabilize the global order, it is vital to reflect on the people who hold the

Read more

An integrated approach to childcare services from a children’s rights perspective

10.05.22

The European Commission (EC) has announced its new plan to develop a European Care Strategy expected to strengthen long-term care and early childhood education and care, as envisaged under the European pillar o

Read more

MMM Responds to EU Commission’s Public Consultation

03.12.20

We answered by submitting a paper describing our views on the future of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan.

Read more

Final adoption of the Work-life balance Directive

22.07.19

Following its adoption by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, the Work-life balance Directive has been finally published in the Official Journal on the 12th of July 2019. The Directive sets a num

Read more

An agreement finally reached by the Council of the EU on the work-life balance directive

23.06.19

After 2 years of intense negotiations among the EU institutions, on June 13th 2019 the Council of the EU Ministers adopted a Directive on work-life balance for parents and caregivers with a large majority in fa

Read more