Abstract

The Author analyses one of the less investigated parts of the labour market reform, namely the one concerning paternity leave and parental leaves. The former gathered specific attention at the time when project of the reform was presented, with a media emphasis certainly not consistent with the actual text of the provision. Rather than being a paternity leave shaped according to the European model, the leave added to the paternity leave in the event of serious reasons of the mother seems to be a leave, from one to three days, with underlying underestimated legal questions that are totally out of proportion in comparison to the expected outcome. As for the economic exchange offered to the mother as an alternative option to parental leave, criticisms are even more pressing, as they put into question the conformity of the provision with the regulatory framework set by European institutions.