Managing absences related to parental leave and a child’s right to return to the same place in early childhood education

At the earliest, a child can be granted a place in early childhood education from the beginning of the calendar month in which the child turns nine months old. Since the duration of parental leave is now 320 days, guardians may still have days of parental leave left when the child starts attending early childhood education.

If you or the other guardian of the child still have parental leave days left, you can use them until the child turns two years old. In this case, the child’s right to the same place in early childhood education remains even during the parental leave. A condition for this is that the absence from early childhood education does not last more than 13 weeks.

If, after the 13-week period, you or the child’s other guardian still have unused parental leave days left, the child must return to early childhood education so that the child’s right to the same place in early childhood education is maintained during the new parental leave period.

A child for whom parental allowance is paid cannot attend early childhood education on parental leave days. In this case, no early childhood education fee is charged for the days the child does not attend early childhood education, with the exception of one-off absences. However, for other children in the family, the early childhood education fee is charged as normal during this period and they can attend early childhood education.

Inform the head of your child's early childhood education unit in writing when your child will be absent from early childhood education due to parental leave. Attach Kela's decision on parental leave days to the message.

Absences must be announced as follows

• An absence that last over 5 days but no more than 13 weeks must be announced at least one month before it starts.
• A recurring absence of 1–5 days must be announced at least one week before the first absence.
• It is recommended but not mandatory to report in advance one-off absences lasting up to 5 days. You can report absences in eVaka's calendar while confirming your child's attendance times. Please note that in cases of one-off absences, the client fee is charged as normal for the duration of the absence.
• If the absence lasts longer than 13 weeks, you must terminate the child's place in early childhood education.