European Court of Justice ruling on maternity / paternity leave for single parents

At a glance

• On 16 May 2024, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handled a request concerning the interpretation of Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers (Directive).
• The legal question to be clarified by the ECJ was whether a single mother or father is entitled to take, and accumulate, the maternity or paternity leave to which the second parent would have been entitled.
• The ECJ found that the request for a preliminary ruling was inadmissible.

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Background

On 16 May 2024, the ECJ dealt with a request for a preliminary ruling made by the Juzgado de lo Social No 1 de Sevilla (case C-673/22). The request concerned the interpretation of Article 5 of the Directive. The ECJ was to decide whether a single mother or father is entitled to take, and accumulate, the maternity or paternity leave to which the second parent would have been entitled to. The decision had been eagerly awaited, as it could have had enormous significance for the rights of single parents by possibly extending maternity leave from 16 to 32 weeks.

The ECJ found that the request for a preliminary ruling was inadmissible. It held that the provisions of the relevant EU Directive were not applicable neither ratione materiae nor ratione temporis to the circumstances of the case in the main proceedings.

ECJ’s reasoning

The ECJ stated that the referring court did not explain how the dispute over extending maternity leave (regulated by Article 48(4) of the Workers’ Statute and Articles 177 to 179 of the General Law on Social Security) related to the interpretation of Article 5 of the Directive. Article 5 gives each parent the right to parental leave and outlines the rules for it. However, Article 5 does not address maternity leave and therefore does not cover the extension of maternity leave for single-parent families. This remains true despite any similarities between parental and maternity leave and concerns about strict enforcement of Spanish law that might not consider single-parent families' situations.

Additionally, regarding the timing of the Directive's application, both the date of the request and the potential extension period of the maternity leave in question occurred before the transposition deadline. Member States had until 2 August 2022, to incorporate the Directive into national law. In this case, on 22 February 2022, the applicant requested an extension of her maternity leave starting 24 February 2022, for a period of 16 weeks.