Force majeure leave is a statutory employee entitlement to paid time off work for urgent family reasons, owing to the injury or illness of a close relative.
In this guide, we take a look at how it applies to your business.
Is there legislation governing force majeure (Ireland)?
Yes, the law on force majeure leave is set out in the Parental Leave Acts, 1998-2006.Do employees enjoy a legal right to it?
Yes, it’s important to note that force majeure is a statutory entitlement, and not leave which is at your discretion as an employer. It isn’t compassionate leave—you may grant on an ad hoc basis. Employees are either entitled to exercise their statutory right to take force majeure leave, as the law covers their situation, or they’re not.Including a clause in your contracts of employment
So, how does it work? Most employers will include a clause confirming that employees can take force majeure leave in accordance with current statutory provisions. If you decide to afford employees greater entitlements than their statutory leave rights, confirm this in the contract of employment.The circumstances you need
There’s a doctrine of force majeure. Employees can only take leave, “for urgent family reasons, owing to an injury to or the illness of a specified person … the immediate presence of the employee … is indispensable.” Given the emphasis on “immediate” and “indispensable”, it’s difficult to envisage too many scenarios where this type of leave could last for more than one day. The WRC and the Labour Court have nonetheless on occasion found that certain circumstances will give rise to an entitlement to take consecutive days.Force majeure circumstances
Let’s take a closer look at other reasons for it.- Urgent and immediate: If the employee had advance notice of the scenario, then he or she won’t satisfy the urgent and immediate requirement. In these circumstances, consider alternative work arrangements like annual leave.
- Indispensable: The employee must be able to show that their presence was indispensable and they needed to stay off work to aid the specified person in getting medical assistance.
Who are the employees referred to in the legislation?
The Parental Leave Acts, 1998-2006 specifies that an employee ha the benefit of force majeure leave in respect of the following persons only:- A child or adoptive child of the employee.
- The spouse of the employee, or a person with whom the employee is living as husband or wife.
- A person to whom the employee is in loco parentis.
- A brother or sister of the employee.
- A parent or grandparent of the employee.
- Persons in a relationship of domestic dependency, including same-sex partners.
