The Fontys Central Participation Council approved Dec. 9 a regulation (as far as we know) unique in the educational world. Namely, a birth leave regulation for non-traditional family forms. Earlier, the Fontys Board approved it.
Strangely enough, nothing has been regulated for this in a national law. Eric Steffann and Nick Adriaans (on behalf of the Fontys Pride community) asked Fontys for their attention. Companies can determine this themselves. For example, HEMA and Volvo have already rolled out their own birth leave regulations.
Eric: 'When you become a parent of a child, but are not a legal parent, you are currently not entitled to statutory leave. With Fontys' expanded birth leave scheme, every parent is entitled to the same birth leave. In doing so, it no longer matters which way you become a parent.'
Bonding with baby
Nicole Vissers-Eickmans, employee policy and expertise at the p and o department, started working on this for Fontys at the beginning of the year: 'I wanted to get involved in this, because I think it is important that a baby can get attached to all parents and that all family members can get used to the new situation in peace and quiet,' Nicole said.
Authors: Marjolein Verschuuren en Monique van Laar