Many employers will already have been aware of the proposed changes to Parental Leave entitlements in Ireland and that these changes have now in fact come into effect as of 8 March 2013. If you wish to receive a copy of the Peninsula update factsheet on these changes then please contact the Advice Service on 01 855 50 50 and one of consultants will be more than happy to assist.
New Legislation
These new changes came into effect after Minister Alan Shatter signed into law the European (Parental Leave) Regulations 2013 (Statutory Instrument No. 81 of 2013), which will complement the existing provisions in relation to parental leave under the Parental Leave Acts 1998-2006.
Age Requirements
This new regulations apply to all parents who have children that meet the age requirements for parental leave in Ireland. These are as follows:
- The leave must be taken before a maternal child reaches 8 years of age.
- In the case of an adopted child, who is under 6 years upon adoption, the leave must be taken before the child reaches 8 years of age.
- However, if the adopted child is aged between 6 years and 8 years at the time of the adoption, the leave must be taken within 2 years of the adoption order.
- In the case of a child with a disability or a long term illness the leave may be taken up to 16 years of age. 'Long term illness' has been inserted by the new legislation and is defined as any long term illness which requires substantially more care than is generally required for other children of the same age who do not have such an illness.
What if my employee had already used up their 14 weeks prior to 8 March 2013?
If an employee has already taken 14 weeks parental leave, and their child, adopted child or child with a disability still meet the age requirements set out above, then the parent employee will be entitled to take an additional 4 weeks leave.
Transferring Parental Leave
Where both parents work for the same employer, the new legislation outlines that one such parent may transfer their parental leave to the other parent, subject to their employer’s approval. However, one parent may only transfer up to 14 weeks parental leave to the other parent. This is a new rule which effectively provides that 4 weeks of parental leave is non-transferable. As outlined above, both parents must work for the same employer so therefore parental leave is non-transferable between two parents who work for two different employers.
Flexible Working Requests
There is also an addition to the existing Acts which entitles a parent, upon their return from parental leave, to ask their employer to change their work pattern for a set period as long that they provide 6 weeks’ notice of the request. However, the employer is obliged to consider this request, and to reply either way within 4 weeks of receiving it, but is not obliged to agree to any work pattern changes.
Although the new Regulations is silent on the matter, it is expected that employers will be obliged to provide solid business reasons where they cannot accede to the change in work pattern. If no such reasons exist then the employer may fall foul of the Regulations and it may also be deemed to be discriminatory under the 'Family Status' grounds.
Conclusion
On making the Regulations Minister Shatter commented: “
It is important that we support parents of young children in the difficult balancing act of caring for a young family and working. I
am firmly of the belief that supports such as Parental Leave are very important because they give mothers and fathers an equal role in the caring of children. This is important on many levels, not least in breaking down stereotypes about child care. I also hope that it will encourage and enable working women to remain in the workforce after they have children“.
If you have any queries regarding Parental Leave and your obligations please call our 24 hour Advice Service and speak to one of our experienced consultants today on 01 855 5050
