Father's Day in Brazil in 2026 will be the last one under the country's five-day paternity leave rule. From 2027, the leave begins to expand gradually, reaching 20 days in 2029, ending a limit that has defined the calendar for fathers for years.
That change matters now because the law was already signed in March this year by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and 2026 is the final Father's Day before the new schedule starts to take effect. The new law, 15.371, expands paternity leave and creates the salary-paternity benefit through INSS, putting Brazil on a longer path away from the current five-day limit.
The details still matter. The extra days will initially be paid by employers, who are then to be reimbursed by Previdência Social, but the way that reimbursement will work has not yet been regulated. Until that is set out, the law is in place but part of its machinery is still missing.
Darwin Grein said leave policies have been growing around the world and that the long-term trend points toward better worker well-being and talent retention. He also said the debate that began in 1988, when the five-day rule was created, has returned 38 years later, now with a broader question about the role of men in family care and affection.
For Ton Kohler, the change is deeply personal. He said it would have been fantastic to spend more time with his children, Pedro and Mariana, who are 11 and 9, respectively, and added that the first days after birth are fundamental for the bond between father and child. He also noted that Carnival has more days off than paternity leave, a comparison that captures how short the old rule has felt to many fathers.
The schedule now has a clear direction even if one piece is still unresolved. Brazil will move from five days in 2026 to a gradual expansion beginning in 2027 and ending at 20 days in 2029, but employers and new fathers are still waiting for the regulation that will show how the reimbursement system is supposed to work in practice.
