Global benefits insights: July/August 2026

A summary of the latest employee benefits changes from around the world | 4 minute read

Italy

Introduces changes to TFR (Severance Pay)¹

Prior to the 1st July 2026, new employees were given 6 months to decide on where their TFR (severance pay) is funded. Contributions did not automatically commence immediately under the old model.

If the employee did not decide within 6 months, their lack of response would be taken as assumed consent that their TFR would go into the company’s default option and they would be enrolled at that point.

As of 1st July 2026, new eligible employees are subject to the automatic enrolment framework upon commencing their employment and have 60 days to elect an alternative arrangement or opt out, where permitted.

As of 1st July 2026, employees must, within 60 days of hire choose from the following options:

Allocate TFR (Severance) to the default option
Keep TFR (Severance) in their own existing fund
Or make no choice (enrolled in company’s default option

Malta

Introduces miscarriage leave and expends parental leave^2,3

Effective from 1st January, two leaves have been introduced to support bereaved parents:

Miscarriage Leave

Should a miscarriage occur before the 22nd week of pregnancy, employees are entitled to 7 working days of leave, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender or working status (i.e. part-time/full-time). Both parents are entitled to this leave and it is to be taken immediately.

Parental Bereavement Leave

Parents are entitled to paid leave of 7 working days should the death of a child aged under 18 occur. This is an increase from the 1-2 days employees were previously entitled to.

Vietnam

Increases maternity and paternity leave⁴

Effective from 1st July 2026, both maternity and paternity leave will increase upon the birth of an employees’ second child.

Currently, female employees are entitled to 6 months of leave. Under Point a, Clause 1, Article 13 of the 2025 Law on Population, this will be increased to 7 months of leave upon the birth of their 2nd child. 7 months of maternity leave will remain in place for multiple births.

Under Article 53 of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, male employees will be entitled to 10 working days’ leave upon the birth of their second child or when multiple births occur. An additional 3 days are provided upon the birth of triplets.

Brazil

Extends paternity leave⁵

On 1st April 2026, Brazil enacted Law No. 15,371/2026 amending paternity leave and paternity pay.

The change in leave and pay commences from January 2027 and will increase the leave in stages, following the below approach:

Increase to 10 days on 1st January 2027
Increase to 15 days on 1st January 2028
Increase to 20 days on 1st January 2029

Leave will apply in the case of birth, adoption or when granted custody of a child. Whilst on paternity leave, payment is the responsibility of the employer.

Costa Rica

Expands breastfeeding leave⁶

On 7th April 2026, Law No. 10895, the "Law to Protect, Promote, and Support Breastfeeding,” was enacted.

Employees were entitled to 1 hour of leave per day to breast feed their child. The new law expands this offering an additional hour per child in instances of multiple births.

If an employee works overtime, they are entitled to an additional 15-minute break for each 3-hour period worked.

The law also expands the rights relating to expressing milk. For each 3 hours worked, employees will be entitled to a minimum of 25 minutes break to express.

Bermuda

Expands adoption leave⁷

Effective from 1st June 2026, Bermuda have introduced a right for employees to take parental leave in cases where a child/children are adopted under the age of 24 months.

Previously, there were no leave entitlements for adopting parents. Under The Bermuda Employment Amendment Act 2026, employees who are legally named as the mother on the guardian/court papers are entitled to 13 weeks of leave. Employees named as the father will be entitled to 5 days of leave.

This leave will align with the same maternity and paternity entitlements provided to birth parents.

South Korea

Expands paternity and childcare leave⁸

From August 2026, various amendments will be made to leave entitlement for parents.

The amendments and their effective dates are:

Short Term Parental leave - 20th August 2026

Employees with children aged 8 and under will be entitled to take 1-2 week blocks once a year instead of the current requirement for lengthy periods only.

Extended Spousal Leave- 18th September 2026

Spouses of pregnant workers will be entitled to take leave up to 50 days prior to expected delivery instead of the previous 4 weeks after birth.

Stillbirth and Miscarriage leave – 18th September 2026

Spousal support for stillbirth and miscarriage will be introduced, offering 5 days (3 paid).

Infertility Support Leave – second half of 2026

Employees who are undergoing fertility support will have their entitlement of paid days’ leave, an increase from 2 days to 4 days. The overall leave entitlement will remain at 6 days per annum.

France

Introduces paid birth leave⁹

Effective from 1st July 2026, the 2026 Social Security Financing Act provides additional leave to parents.

Parents with children born or adopted after 1st July 2026 will be entitled to take up to 1-2 months of birth leave.

The leave can be taken in up to 2 periods of 1 month each and is funded by CPAM at 70% of salary for the first month, and 60% of salary for the remaining month.

Leave must be taken within 9 months of the child’s birth or within 9 months of arriving in the home.

For those with children born or adopted from 1st January 2026, the leave still applies but must be used within the 9-month period of the act being passed (i.e. from 1st July 2026 until 31st March 2027).

This leave can be taken in addition to any other parental leave the employee is entitled to.

Minimum wage increases from 1st July 2026

Jamaica

The weekly minimum wage will increase from JMD 16,000 to JMD 17,000. This is based on a 40-hour working week.¹⁰

Romania

The monthly minimum wage will increase from RON 4,050 to 4,325. This is based on a standard monthly work schedule of approximately 166.67 hours. This is the equivalent of a minimum hourly wage of RON 25.949.¹¹

Uruguay

The monthly minimum wage will increase from UYU 24,572 UYU to UYU 25,383.¹²

NFP’s guide to international benefits

Whether you’re a new start-up, a growing enterprise or an established international organisation, operating globally comes with its own set of unique challenges; from navigating legal and tax legislation to understanding local cultures, creating compliant and competitive benefits packages can be complex.

Our team of experienced international employee benefits consultants have written this guide to help you:

Achieve consistency in your international benefits strategy
Identify benefits to implement in each of your locations
Choose the right international benefits providers
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This insights article is not intended to address any specific situation or to provide legal, regulatory, financial, or other advice. While care has been taken in the production of this article, NFP does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of the article or any part of it and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. Any recipient shall be responsible for the use to which it puts this article. This article has been compiled using information available to us up to its date of publication.

NFP contributors

Emma Bryant
International Technical Specialist, Employee Benefits

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