We all know that employment law is a minefield. Sometimes it may feel like there is legislation for everything and often there are lots of ‘buzz-words’ specific to employment law being bounced around. You wouldn’t be on your own if you thought that employment law is like another language! In an effort to help employers wade through these buzz-words and parts of legislation, we at Peninsula have created our very own Employment Law Dictionary! It’s simple, concise and easy to understand. Each month we represent a letter of the alphabet and associate a few words in employment law with that letter.
Parental Leave- An employee who is a natural or adoptive parent and who has a minimum of one year's continuous service is entitled to up to 14 weeks parental leave 'to enable him or her to take care of the child'. There is no statutory obligation to provide pay during parental leave although employers can pay for all or part of the leave if they wish. Both parents qualify for parental leave but the leave must be taken before the child is 8 years of age, except in the case of an adopted child aged between 6 and 8 years of age when the adoption order is made, in which case the leave must be taken within two years of the date of the adoption order.
If the parent has completed less than one year's continuous service by the last day for commencing parental leave but has completed three months service, the parent can take one week's parental leave for each complete month of service prior to the leave.
Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA)-A PRSA is a contract between an individual and an authorised PRSA provider such as investment business firms, insurance companies and credit institutions in the form of an investment account that can be used to save for retirement. It is a type of defined contribution arrangement where the investment return is tax exempted. There are two types of PRSA – a Standard PRSA and a non-Standard PRSA.
The PRSA is also designed to be owned by an individual, regardless of their employment status, to be transferable from job to job, and to be available from a variety of providers. An employer does not have to give any PRSA advice but you must allow your PRSA provider or intermediary reasonable access to your employees in order to brief them on PRSAs. Therefore, an employer need only provide access to a PRSA and is not required to contribute to them or give advice on them.
Probationary Period- A probationary period should be written into all contracts of employment to ensure that the employer has an opportunity to assess the capability, reliability and suitability of a new recruit. A standard period for a probationary period would be three months.
Having regular reviews during the probationary period helps to ensure that you give your new recruit all necessary support and every opportunity to know about and fix any problems or concerns you might have. This gives you both the best chance to make this succeed and make the most of your employee’s potential.
