Adoption and foster parent leave: novelties as from 01 january 2019

Two new measures will enter into force on 1 January 2019: the extension of adoption leave and the introduction of foster parent leave. What are we talking about in concrete terms?

ADOPTION LEAVE

Brief overview of the current rules

The employee who adopts a child is entitled to adoption leave for an uninterrupted period of:

• maximum 6 weeks if the child is less than 3 years old at the start of the leave;
• maximum 4 weeks if the child is 3 years or older at the start of the leave.

Adoption leave must start within 2 months following the registration of the child as a member of the family of the employee in the population register or in the register of foreigners of the municipality of residence. Therefore, adoption leave cannot be taken to complete administrative formalities prior to adoption or to accompany the child when it leaves his or her country of origin.

In the event of simultaneous care for more than one child in the employee's family, the entitlement to adoption leave will be granted only once.

The exercise of the entitlement to adoption leave ends when the child reaches the age of 8 years during the time the leave is taken.

During the adoption leave, the employee retains the right to his normal wage for the first 3 days of the leave. For the following days, he will receive a benefit from his health insurance fund.

And as from 01 January 2019?

The adoption leave is 6 weeks per adoptive parent, regardless of the age of the minor child. In addition, it is extended as follows for the adoptive parent or for both adoptive parents together:

• by 1 week from 01 January 2019;
• by 2 weeks from 01 January 2021 at the latest;
• by 3 weeks from 01 January 2023 at the latest;
• by 4 weeks from 01 January 2025 at the latest;
• by 5 weeks from 01 January 2027 at the latest.

If there are two adoptive parents, they will share this additional weeks.

In the event of simultaneous adoption of several minor children, the duration of the adoption leave is extended by 2 weeks per adoptive parent.

In the event of international adoption, the benefit payable by the health insurance fund may also cover the period prior to the actual care of the adopted child in Belgium, provided that this prior period does not exceed 4 weeks and is used for the preparation of the actual care of the child.

In this event, the payment is only valid in Belgium. A royal decree still has to determine how the employee can prove that this previous period was actually used for the care of the child in his family.

FOSTER PARENT LEAVE

Current rules

Currently, there is only foster care leave. It offers the employee who has been appointed as a foster parent the opportunity to be absent from work in order to fulfil obligations and perform tasks related to the placement in his family of one (or more) person(s) entrusted to him.

The duration of the foster care leave is set at 6 days per calendar year.

And as from 01 January 2019?

Foster care leave will continue to exist. However, in the event of long-term foster care, the employee is entitled to "foster parent leave".

In practice, an employee who, in the context of long-term foster care, takes in a child in his family, with a view to caring for this child, is entitled to foster parent leave for a continuous period of maximum 6 weeks.

Long-term foster care is defined as foster care for which it is clear at the start that the child will stay with the same foster parents for at least 6 months in the same foster family.

This foster parent leave of 6 weeks per parent is extended for the foster parent or for both foster parents together in the following way:

• by 1 week from 01 January 2019;
• by 2 weeks from 1 January 2021 at the latest;
• by 3 weeks from 01 January 2023 at the latest;
• by 4 weeks from 01 January 2025 at the latest;
• by 5 weeks from 01 January 2027 at the latest;

If there are two foster care parents, they will share these additional weeks.

During the foster parent leave, the employee retains the right to his normal wage for the first 3 days of the leave. For the following days, the employee will receive a benefit from his health insurance fund.

Source: Law of 6 September 2018 amending the regulations with a view to strengthening adoption leave and introducing foster leave, Belgian Official Gazette of 26 September 2018.