“The legal risk was identified, but you have to know how to dare when you want to move the lines,” said State Councilor Thierry Apothéloz, in charge of Social Cohesion, calmly. On Wednesday, the Federal Council blocked the 24-week cantonal parental leave accepted by popular vote on June 18, 2023. According to Berne, such a modification of the Geneva Constitution is contrary to federal law. However, “the case is not aborted, it is only suspended”, underlined the socialist magistrate.
A bill has in fact already been tabled under the federal umbrella: the text would allow the Canton to ultimately apply the measure adopted last year by nearly 58% of Genevans (cf. box below).
That said, for the moment, it’s still “no”. But the Council of State accepts its “gamble”, which it is convinced will win in the long term. “It is always difficult to innovate in terms of social insurance, which struggles so much to adapt to today’s world of work,” said Thierry Apothéloz. It was therefore worth launching because, in the end, the clear vote of the population constituted an important signal, a call for change which also seems to resonate in Bern. The State Councilor also recalled that the risk of a legal pitfall for parental leave was noted in the voting brochure. Previously, the Grand Council had also been informed of this, which did not prevent it from clearly adopting the initiative.
The latter was launched by the Green Liberals. On Wednesday, they criticized Bern’s decision. “Procedural and inconsistent”, it delays the implementation of the project, “thus penalizing many young parents”, denounced the party. Its president, Aurélien Barakat, however, remains optimistic: ultimately, “the Confederation could give the green light. So we can get angry, but not too much…”
A solution on the horizon
It was the arrangements for financing parental leave that raised eyebrows at the Federal Office of Justice. For the moment the legal bases are lacking, but a federal bill could well change the situation. Parliamentarians in Bern could adopt it this fall. If this is the case, it will nevertheless still be necessary to work on the precise contours of this law. Nothing will be ready before sometime in 2025, at the earliest; but ultimately, the cantons could then offer parental leave on their territory and the Geneva initiative could thus be implemented.
