In Switzerland, paternity leave is a fun thing. Women are entitled to (usually) 14 weeks of leave. Fathers, on the other hand, way less, and this “privilege” is still deeply divisive among Swiss politics because, you know, men have to go to work, women have to stay home and raise children. All this only started from January 1st 2021, after a historical referendum passed: before that, Switzerland was the only European country to not have paternity leave laws, a position entrenched in 50 years of conservative governments. That means that I was among the very first privileged men to enjoy 2 weeks of 80% paid leave when Penelope was born in 2021. Yay!
But I still want to rant about something because that’s what I do. So let me tell you about these “2 weeks”.
The problem came out when I was doing the math for Serse’s leave this year with HR at my employer. So I went to read the guidelines on the official information service of the Confederation:
Paternity leave lasts for 2 weeks, or 14 daily allowances.[…] Unlike maternity leave, paternity leave is flexible. You can take it all at once, or as individual days as long as it is taken in the six months after the birth of your child.
OK, so I can claim 14 days off work. But why they only gave me 10 when Penelope was born? Well, it turned out, the formulation above (an official source!) is not fully accurate! If we look at the official formulation:
If the father/mother’s wife is in gainful employment, they are entitled to two weeks’ paternity leave. This leave can either be taken either on a weekly basis (weekends included) or on the basis of individual days. As is the case with maternity leave, weekends are included in the compensation. Consequently, the father/mother’s wife receives 14 daily allowances and is entitled to a total of 10 days off work.
So it’s ten days off, not 14.
Now, can someone explain me WHY this supercomplicated paragraph to just say “10 days of paid leave”? Do I work on weekends? No. Do I get paid for my weekends? No. Why “two weeks”? It’s not 14 consecutive days, they can be split. So it’s just ten. Working. Days. AYFKM. Don’t make it complicated!
Finally, the fun part: I took my ten days of paternity leave for Serse already. But OF COURSE I don’t have the birth certificate yet. So HR is breathing on my neck because I have to hand it over before June. It will be fine. Will it? Please?
