The National Assembly unanimously voted Thursday evening March 2 in favor of extending the minimum leave for the death of a child, by increasing it from 5 to 12 days in the Labor Code.
The deputies adopted an LFI amendment to this effect, as part of the examination of a bill from the Horizons group which aims to improve support for families of seriously ill children.
The rebellious Frédéric Mathieu defended this extension, necessary to
"complete the administrative procedures"
and
"material"
around a death.
“No day off will ever replace the loss of a child
,” he also stressed.
The Labor Code currently provides five days for the death of a child, or seven working days if he is under 25 years old.
For the death of a child under the age of 25, a “parental bereavement leave” of eight additional split days was added in 2020, partly covered by Social Security.
The initial rejection by the Assembly two years ago of an extension of leave in the Labor Code, which was proposed by Guy Bricout (UDI), had sparked a wave of indignation, and the Minister of Labor of time Muriel Pénicaud had found herself in the hot seat.
The deputies avoided reproducing such an episode on Thursday evening, but the rapporteur Paul Christophe (Horizons) said he was
"quite embarrassed"
that this amendment intervened within the framework of a text aimed at
"protecting the parents of a child well alive"
.
He rather invited, but in vain, to take stock of the provision for 2020. The Minister of Solidarity Jean-Christophe Combe stressed that "
we can only agree on this subject"
of bereavement leave, and if
of the Assembly.
'Unlimited inhumanity'
Examined at first reading, the bill on
"the protection of families of children suffering from an illness or a handicap, or victims of a particularly serious accident"
was also adopted unanimously. and must now pass to the Senate, thus completed.
It plans to increase from two to five days the duration for the parents of the leave for announcing the occurrence of a disability or a chronic pathology of a child.
The text also provides for prohibiting the dismissal of any employee parent concerned, facilitating access to teleworking or even keeping them in the accommodation, under conditions, in the event of lease renewal.
RN deputies provoked widespread disapproval by presenting amendments in order to reserve certain measures for parents, at least one of whom is of French nationality.
Jean-Christophe Combe denounced
"unlimited inhumanity"
.
