Global leave entitlement: What’s changing?

Employment law reform is changing around the world, including changes to employee leave entitlements across different countries.

These reforms are part of a bigger shift in the world of employment, accelerated by a number of factors.

Geopolitical and economic pressures are disrupting supply chains, making investment decisions more complex, and putting added strain on ordinary people. The rapid rise of AI adoption has sparked debate about how it should be used ethically, how it can be used to help businesses, and how it may or may not replace people’s jobs. Flexibility in the workplace is firmly here to stay with hybrid and remote working embedded in our employment experience – yet tension between employers wanting to see more time spent at work in-person, versus employees unwilling to compromise on working from home, remains.

Many governments around the world are introducing reforms aimed at creating stronger protections for workers, increased leave entitlements, a clear emphasis on flexible working arrangements, and higher thresholds for worker dismissals and company restructuring processes.

In this article, we look at a selection of countries that have recently enacted new employment law reforms (or are in the process of considering them), in particular regarding how leave entitlements are changing around the world.

Global leave entitlement changes in 2026 by country:

Belgium

From 1st January 2026, Belgium introduced major changes to return-to-work rules following an employee’s sickness absence. The reform is part of broader plans aimed at reducing instances of long-term absences, and presents a new concept known as “work potential” – that being the presumed ability of an employee on long-term sick leave to perform adapted work or other types of work. If an employee has been unfit for work for 8 weeks, their employer must ask a prevention advisor-occupational physician to carry out an estimate of work potential, using a standardised method. If work potential is confirmed, plans for a formal reintegration trajectory must be put in place to support a smooth return to work. Employers must also follow a stricter structure for contacting the absent employee, documenting how, when and by whom the employee has been contacted.

Denmark

Denmark has significantly increased government-paid leave for parents of hospitalised newborn children – from a combined total of 3 months for both parents to 12 months for each parent. This also includes instances where newborn babies receive medical treatment at home, and came into effect from 1st January 2026.

India

The Supreme Court has scrapped the age cap on maternity leave for adoptive mothers in India, which previously only applied to mothers who adopted a child younger than 3 months old. Now, mothers of adopted children are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave, starting from the date that the child is handed over to them, regardless of the child’s age.

Italy

Italy has increased unpaid leave for employees with cancer or other serious conditions from 6 months to 24 months, with measures in place to protect workers’ jobs during that time. It also grants employees 10 hours of paid leave per year to attend medical appointments associated with their condition.

Japan

Japan has recently mandated that employers must offer workers with children under 3 years old the option to work reduced hours or work remotely. From 1st April 2025, employers had to give parents with children under 3 years old the option to work from home if they choose. From 1st October 2026, they must also offer two or more of the following: company-sponsored childcare (by providing childcare facilities or other equivalent arrangements, such as covering the cost of a babysitter), flexi-time (e.g. starting work later or finishing earlier), 10 days of leave per year to help with childcare, or a reduced work schedule.

Malta

From 26th December 2025, Malta introduced 7 paid leave days to parents who experience the loss of a child under the age of 18 years old. This includes both employed and self-employed individuals.

Mexico

Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Armando Corona Arvizu, has proposed that Mexican workers should have the right to paid leave on their birthday, or in instances where they need or wish to work, receive double pay. The proposal is not yet law and is still being discussed in Congress.

New Zealand

New Zealand is overhauling the way leave entitlements work, by replacing its current Holidays Act with the Employment Leave Act, which introduces an hours-based accrual system for working out leave entitlement. The reform received Royal Assent in August 2026, but doesn’t take effect until August 2028, giving employers a two-year implementation period.

Northern Ireland

Statutory paid miscarriage leave for both parents has been introduced in Northern Ireland as of 6th April 2026. The reforms builds on the existing Paid Bereavement Leave and Pay Act which passed by the Assembly in 2022, which gave working parents the right to up to 2 weeks of paid leave following the death of a child under the age of 18 years old, or a stillbirth after 24 weeks of pregnancy. This has now become a day-one right as of April 2026, abolishing the qualifying period of 26 weeks of continuous employment.

South Africa

The Constitutional Court in South Africa has effectively condensed the categories of maternity leave, parental leave, commissioning parental leave and adoption leave into one type – parental leave. The reform allows both birthing parents 4 months and 10 consecutive days of unpaid leave, or 4 months for a single parent or a parent who is the only one in employment in the parental relationship.

Thailand

In Thailand, maternity leave has increased to 120 days, 15 days of paid paternity leave has been introduced, as well as 15 additional days of infant care leave at 50% pay if a newborn requires hospitalisation.

Turkey

Turkey has expanded its maternity leave benefits, allowing certain mothers to take an additional 8 weeks of leave if they meet certain criteria.

UK

In the UK, both paternity leave and parental leave became a day-one right as of April 2026. The day one entitlement for paternity leave is unpaid only, and remains separate from paternity pay, which requires the employee to have 26 weeks’ continuous employment by the end of the 15th week leading up to the expected week of childbirth to qualify.

How can employers respond when leave entitlement legislation changes?

As an employer, ensuring you are offering the correct amount and types of statutory leave as mandated by law can be challenging. For employers that have multiple locations and employees on different types of contracts, it’s even more complex in making sure you’re remaining compliant.

The introduction of new reforms such as the above – some of which involve are a small adaptation to an existing leave entitlement, and others which introduce new types of leave entirely, means additional compliance, admin and paperwork for HR to understand, digest, prepare and communicate with the wider business.

Clarity and communication are key – updating your leave and absence policies to reflect any legislative changes, before circulating them with your employees, ensures that everyone is aware of their entitlements and how and when these types of leave can be used.

The right system can help an organisation to stay compliant. Ensuring each and every instance of leave and absence is recorded helps you to manage your resources, address any issues, and support your employees in their return to work. Having visibility over all of your teams, even if they are spread across multiple locations, gives you a central source of truth that is so easily missed if you’re using spreadsheets and disjointed systems.