Morocco's parliament approves 15 days paid paternity leave, longest in MENA region

Morocco's House of Representatives approved on Monday an increase of paternity leave for Moroccan male employees, from three paid days off to fifteen.

According to the new bill, every Moroccan male employee who has had a newborn or is in the custody of a child under the age of fourteen weeks will benefit from a paternity license for 15 consecutive paid days. 

Maternal leave in Morocco is fourteen weeks. 

Introduced in April by Ghita Mezzour, minister of digital transition and administration reform, the bill vows to enable Moroccan male employees to participate in family life and be present during the first days of their newborn children's lives.

"Increasing the paternity leave to a paid 15-day leave is a measure that aims to support new mothers, by allowing them to enjoy the support of their partners during that important period of their lives," Mezzour said as she introduced the bill on April 30.

On April 30, the government introduced the draft as part of a "social pact" it signed with national labour unions to "improve working conditions for Morocco's working class."

The new bill makes Morocco the country with the longest paid paternity leave in the MENA region.

However, only public employees will benefit from the new parental leave. The government said it is working on including the private sector workers.

Besides Iran, which guarantees a compulsory two weeks of paid leave for fathers, the rest of MENA countries give no more than five paid days for new fathers.

In Israel, fathers can take paid leave instead of the mother, who are entitled to 15 weeks of paid leave, starting from the seventh week.

Egypt, Libya and Bahrain give only one paid day of paternity leave.

UAE requires the fathers to submit a certificate that proves the birth of the child in the Emirates to benefit from three days of paid leave.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Algeria, Palestine and Tunisia also guarantee three days of paid paternity leave for male workers.

Among the earliest countries to actively push for increased usage of paternity leave are the Nordic welfare states, starting with Sweden making parental leave gender neutral in 1974 and soon followed by Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

As gender roles are shifting, and taking care of children is no longer seen as women's sole responsibility, more countries started legislating longer paternity leaves.

Some studies show that paid parental leave increases women's participation in the workforce and reduces gender pay gaps.

However, even in countries with comparatively robust paid leave, several fathers described experiencing discrimination when requesting paid parental leave. Other fathers avoid paid leave amid a "hustling culture" spreading worldwide.

For instance, Japan guarantees 52 weeks of paternity leave, from which two-thirds are covered financially, yet less than 3 per cent of new fathers take any parental leave amid a work culture of high pressure and long hours.

Despite the stigma, many countries have moved to obligate new fathers to benefit from their paid leaves. In France, for example, in which fathers have 28 days of parental leave, the first seven days are obligatory.