Geneva to introduce pioneering parental leave scheme

Campaign material urging a “yes” vote for the parental leave project in Geneva. Keystone / Anthony Anex

Almost 58% of voters in Geneva have backed a plan allocating 24 weeks of leave to new parents. Voters in Bern rejected a similar initiative on Sunday.

The plan is a first for Switzerland: all new parents in canton Geneva can now receive – on top of the existing 16 weeks for mothers and two for fathers – an extra six weeks for the second partner. The existing two weeks for fathers can now be used however the parents wish.

It applies to all couples, regardless of heterosexual or same-sex, and regardless of whether the child is adopted or not.

The measure will be financed by employer contributions. It was backed by business and centre-right groups, and opposed by left-wing groups who said it was not comprehensive enough. They also criticised the fact that the scheme is not statutory, but opt-in.

‘No’ in Bern

Voters in canton Bern meanwhile rejected on Sunday an even more ambitious plan, which wanted to build on the existing 14 weeks of leave for new mothers and two for fathers with 24 extra weeks to be shared between both.

This plan was clearly rejected by 66.5% of voters.

At the national level, voters accepted in 2020 an initiative granting 10 days of leave to new fathers; before this, men were not entitled to any statutory days off after the birth of a child, although they could request one or two days of leave under the code of obligations in Swiss labour law.