Home » Legal developments » National legislation » Colombia: congress approves extension of paternity leave and establishes parental leave allowance Colombia: congress approves extension of paternity leave and establishes parental leave allowance Through . Published on 21 June 2021 à 12h46 - Update on 22 September 2021 à 16h07 Resources Paternity leave is to be extended and a portion of maternity leave is to be converted into a shared 6-week parental leave allowance, under a bill tabled by José Daniel López, a member of Colombia’s house of representatives, which was approved after a final reading in the senate on the night of Thursday 17 June. Paternity leave, which is currently not compulsory in Colombia, will initially be increased from the current 8 days to 2 weeks, and will then gradually be extended to 5 weeks. This extension of one week per year over a period of 5 years will nevertheless be conditional on a decrease in the structural unemployment rate; for each percentage point reduction in structural unemployment, the paternity leave allowance will increase by one week. In addition, the text introduces a parental leave system (“licencia compartida”) whereby a father may take part of the maternity leave allowance in place of the mother. Of the 18 weeks of maternity leave granted, the last 6 weeks may be given to the father, while the first 12 weeks must be taken by the mother. Parental leave pay in this case will be covered by the employer on the basis of the salary of the parent taking the leave. The new law will also allow parents to extend part of their parental leave (the last 2 weeks for the father and the last 6 weeks for the mother) by opting for part-time work (“licencia flexible“), in agreement with their employer. Parenthood Need more info ? Contact mind's on-demand study service Which service do you want to contact :WritingCommercial serviceTechnical SupportFirst name Last name Organization Function email* Object of the message Your messageCommentsThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Essentials Les dernières publications Supporting parenthood in the workplace: a win-win strategy Supporting employee carers: a CSR challenge Analyzes Les dernières publications Paternity leave: data observations from 41 countries EU: during H1 2022 five EU Member States have raised their minimum salary levels