Parent’s Leave Benefit
Paid Parental Leave
The Parents Leave and Benefit Act 2019 increased paid parental leave in the first year of the child’s life. In the case of adoption it applies within a year of the date of adoption. Parental leave was unpaid and was not the subject of a social welfare payment equivalent to that applicable in respect of maternity paternity and adaptive leave.
Agreements such as in contracts of employment which purport to prevent a person availing of the rights granted by the legislation of void.
The relevant parent of a child under the age of one has an entitlement to two weeks parents leave for child porn place for adoption after 1 November 2019. The Family Leave Act 2021 extends the entitlement of parent’s leave for each qualifying parent from two weeks to five weeks.
The period may be extended by ministerial order having regard to a number of relevant matters including facilitating parents balancing work and home life promotion of participation of mothers in the labour market opportunity for parents to share responsibility for children effect on employers cost to the Exchequer.
The purpose of leave is to enable the employee concerned to provide our assist in the provision of care to the child.
Qualifying Parent
The relevant parent is a parent of the child spouse civil partner or co-habitant of a parent of the child or person deemed a parent where a child is donor conceived. In the case of an adoption the relevant parent is the adopting mother or the sole male adoptor of the child, that person’s spouse civil partner or cohabitant where the child is adopted jointly by a married couple of the same sex couple that are civil partners of each other or a cohabiting couple of the same sex. The 2021 Act rationalises the qualification and substitutes as qualifying adopter as defined
The leave cannot be transferred between parents other than where a parent dies.
The 2021 Act extends the time period in which parent’s leave can be taken from one year to two years, in the case of a child who is or is to be adopted.
The 2021 Act extends the entitlement to parent’s leave from two weeks to five weeks, for an employee who is a surviving parent, where the employee entitled to parent’s leave dies on or before the expiration of the period of the entitlement concerned.
Taking Leave
A parent must give six weeks notice to his or her employer setting out the expected date that leave is to begin and the duration of the planned leave. Certain documents must be given relative to the type of leave concerned.
In some cases a statement by a medical doctor confirming the pregnancy and the expected week of confinement or a copy of the birth cert is required. In the case of adoptions or proposed adoption certain declarations and other information must be furnished.
Where the parent is entitled to full parents leave and adoptive leave, the adoptive leave and transferred paternity leave must be taken before parents leave. Where there is also an entitlement to paternity leave paternity and parents leave can be taken in either order.
Where child is born more than four weeks before the expected date of birth, the notice is validly given if given within seven days of the birth. Where the placement of a child for adoption is postponed or the birth occurs after the date selected for commencement of parents leave the parent, may select another date.
Employer’s Postponement
The employer may postpone commencement of the period of parents leave where taking the leave would have a substantial adverse effect on the operation of the business for to
- seasonal variations in the volume of work concerned,
- the unavailability of a person to carry out the duties of the employee in the employment during the period of the leave,
- the nature of the duties referred to in paragraph (b),
- the number of employees in the employment or the number thereof whose periods, or parts of whose periods, of parent’s leave will fall within the period specified in the said notification, or
- any other relevant matters,
The employer may by notice given to the employee no later than four weeks before the intended commencement, postpone the commencement of the leave to such time not later than 12 weeks after the commencement specified or as may be agreed between the employer and the employee. Before giving notice the employer is to consult with the employee in relation to the proposed postponement of parents leave.
The notice is to contain a statement in summary form of the grounds of postponement of commencement of leave. One postponement only as possible. The employer is to retain the notice.
Postponement Where Hospitalised
A parent who was entitled to or is on parent leave may make a request that the employer to postpone the leave upon hospitalisation of the child. The employer is to notify the parent of its decision as soon as reasonably practicable after receipt of notice.
Where leave is postponed, it must be taken within seven days from the discharge of the child from hospital or as otherwise agreed with the employer. Where leave is postponed, the parent continues to work or returns to work on a correspondingly earlier date.
Where the employee returns to work and during the period of postponement he or she is absent from work due to sickness the employee is deemed to have commenced postponed leave on the first date of such absence unless he or she notifies the employer in writing as soon as reasonably practicable that he does not wish to commence such leave. Following such notification, the absence from work due to sickness is treated in the same manner as any absence due to sickness and the employee is not be entitled to the postponed leave.
Entitlement to postpone leave is subject to the parent notifying the employer in writing soon as reasonably practicable but not later than the day upon which the leave begins of the intention to commence such leave and the duration of the leave. This requirement may be waived by the employer. The notice may be revoked by a further notice given by or on behalf of the parent within the period specified for the giving of the notification.
Death of Child or Parent
A parent continues to be entitled to parents leave if the child dies within the period during which the parent is eligible for the leave.
On the death of one parent, entitlement to postponed leave is to pass to the surviving parent. Similar conditions apply to transferred parents leave as apply to parents leave.
Continuity Preserved
While the parent is on parents leave, he or she is deemed to be in employment and his or her rights such as those based on continuity of service are preserved while he or she is on leave. While being so absent, statutory rights that apply continue to apply. The parent is not entitled to remuneration during the period of absence.
The period of absence from work on parents leave is not be treated as part of leave including sick leave, annual leave, maternity leave, additional maternity leave, or adoptive parents leave paternity leave or transferred paternity leave to which the employee concerned is entitled.
Where an employee is on probation, undergoing training in relation to employment, or employed under a contract of apprenticeship and takes parents leave, the employer if it considers the absence from employment would not be consistent with the continuation of the probation, training or apprenticeship, may require that it be suspended during the period of leave and be completed at the end of that period.
An employee is not be deemed to be a employed contributor for the purposes of social insurance in a period of absence on parents leave if the employee does not receive any earnings respect of that period.
Employee Protections
An employer shall not be penalise or threaten to penalise an employee for proposing to exercise or having exercised entitlement to parents leave. Penalisation has the same meaning as in other contexts.
An employee has the right to return to work after expiration of parents leave. The entitlement is to return to employment with the same employer as immediately before the period of absence or if there was a change of ownership with the transferee/successor employer.
The employee is entitled to return to the job under the same contract of employment or on terms no less favourable than would have been applicable and incorporate any improvement to the terms and conditions of employment which he would have been entitled but for such absence.
Where employment held by the employee before the commencement of leave was not the employee’s normal usual job, the employee shall be entitled to return to work to his normal usual job so held as soon as practicable. In this context the job means work of the nature which he or she is employed to do in accordance with his contract employment of employment in the capacity and place is which he is so employed.
Where because of an interruption or cessation of work at the place of employment on the scheduled date of return or existing at the time of the expiration of parents leave, it is unreasonable to expect the employee to work on such expiration the employee may return to work instead when work resumes at the place of employment after the interruption or cessation or as soon as reasonably practicable after resumption.
Where an employee is entitled to return to work but is not permitted to do so here she is presumed to have been dismissed by reason of redundancy on the expected date of return. The minimum notice period will applies if that is the date of termination of employment.
If dismissal proceedings are issued then the employee is presumed to have been dismissed on the expected date of return.
Enforcement
Disputes regarding employee’s parents leave entitlements are heard by the Workplace Relations Commission. The standard procedure applies. The time limit is six months from the relevent date.
The matter may be resolved by mediation or by adjudication. The decision of an adjudication officer may be appealed to the Labour Court wthin 42 days. The adjudication officer or Labour Court may grant the employee the parents leave of such lenght at such time or times as it considers proper.
The WRC or LC may award compensation of such amount not exceeding the number of weeks of remuneration equivalent to the number of weeks’ entitlement in respect of the employees employment as the adjudication officer considers just and equitable. An award of compensation and of parents leave may be made. The commencement of parents leave may be postponed.
Parents Benefit
Parents benefit is provided for under the social welfare legislation. A parent is entitled to parents benefit in respect of the period of leave during which he or sshe provides care and assistance in relation to a child ending not later than 52 weeks after the birth of the child. The parent must satisfy the social insurance contribution requirements as an employed or self-employed contributor.
The period of contributions required is at least
- 39 contributions in the preceding 12 months or
- at least 39 weeks contributions since commencement of employment and 39 weeks contributions in the pre-penultimate period or
- 26 contributions in each of the second last and third last complete contribution years
Only one parents benefit shall be payable to a parent in relation to a child. Where the birth of the child is part of multiple births of two or more children or where person adopts two or more children only one parents benefit shall be payable to a relevant parent in relation to the child concerned.
Parents benefit may be paid in respect of a continuous period of parents leave each consisting of not less than one week. When parents leave is taken, the employer must certify that the relevant parent is entitled to each period of leave concerned.
The weekly rate of parents benefit is the greater of the amount of illness benefit to whihc the person would otherwise be entitled to or €245.
Parents benefit shall be paid in the case of an employed contributor for the period of parents leave which the parent is entitled to under the 2019 Act or the period of transferred leave. Parents benefit is not transferable between parents other than in the case of the death of a parent.