Overview

• Effective July 31, 2025, families including salaried employees, self-employed workers and public servants can apply for the expanded parental leave 24 hours after BOE publication.
• Paid leave for each parent increases from 16 to 17 weeks for births occurring on or after the effective date.
• A pair of additional paid weeks becomes available for children born after August 1, 2024, to be taken flexibly until the child turns eight.
• Single-parent families will receive up to 32 weeks of paid leave with four of those weeks usable until the child’s eighth birthday.
• Lactation leave remains unchanged at three weeks, and the reform fulfills EU work–life balance rules to halt €9,000-per-day fines.