This is a joint initiative of parliamentarians and journalists from Rossiyskaya Gazeta. And the problem was suggested by citizens who came to the State Duma and RG readers.
“We have prepared a bill to eliminate the legislative vacuum, once submitted to the government, it will be submitted to the Duma,” explains the head of the Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, Yaroslav Nilov.
And the problem is this. Today, in accordance with article 256 of the Labor Code, at the request of a woman she is granted leave to care for a child until the child reaches the age of three.
It should be noted that from January 1, 2024, the right to receive compulsory social insurance benefits remains in case a woman or other persons who actually care for a child go to work (including part-time, working from home or remote work) from parental leave until the child reaches one and a half years of age or during the period of said leave work for another employer.
However, if a mother on maternity leave becomes ill and cannot care for her young child, the father does not receive paid sick leave. That is, the child’s father can take leave at his own expense or negotiate with the employer to be allowed (if possible) to work remotely. “In fact, the legislation does not provide for the simultaneous payment of temporary disability benefits and monthly childcare benefits while one of the family members is on paternity leave. Considering the recent increase in morbidity, including coronavirus, such refusals cause serious social tension problems. Among families with children, we believe that the refusal to grant temporary disability benefits to the father who cares for a sick child due to the illness of a mother who is on paternity leave is unfounded and unfair,” Nilov emphasizes.
To solve the problem, the bill introduces an amendment to part 1 of article 5 of the Federal Law “On compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity”, which provides for granting insured persons temporary disability benefits in the case of the need to care for a sick child before he or she turns three years old during the illness of the insured (mother, father, other relative, guardian) who is on paternity leave.
