Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) coalition government has cancelled planned funding cuts to the country's parental allowance and employer-paid family leave allowance arrangement.
The decision was noted in the minutes of a government budget meeting, published on Tuesday evening. Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat was the first to report about the matter.
The government had planned to save 35 million euros per year with the cuts, but the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will need to find other ways of cutting costs.
According to the meeting's minutes, the ministry will make other savings proposals by next spring, when the government is scheduled to negotiate the budget framework.
Orpo's government initially aimed to reduce the one-time payment employers receive when female workers take parental leave — from the current level of 2,500 euros to 1,500 euros.
The funds are meant to partially compensate employers that are required to pay for a female employees' parental leave. Some collective agreements call for employers to hand out parental leave payments higher than those paid by the state benefits agency Kela.
Employers are able to apply for compensation from the state when employees take parental leave.
Plans were also cancelled to change the parental allowance arrangement.