A Proposal to Grant 5 Days of Paid Paternity Leave Within 30 Days After Childbirth

A number of deputies from the Armenian National Assembly‘s ‘My Step’ faction are proposing to grant new fathers the option of taking 5 paid workdays off, at the employer's expense, within 30 days following the birth of their child.

This initiative was authored and introduced by Armen Pambukhchyan, Tsovinar Vardanyan, Narek Zeynalyan, Lusine Badalyan, and Sona Ghazaryan. They argue that this would allow a new father to enjoy the joys of fatherhood and take care of his child and his newly delivered wife.

Similar legislative frameworks are established in the laws of several countries, including France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.

In another amendment, they suggest prohibiting the termination of employment contracts initiated by employers with pregnant women from the day they submit their pregnancy documentation until one year after the end of maternity leave (currently, the existing regulation allows for termination after one month has passed). According to them, this change would extend the guaranteed period for women until the child turns one year old.