This period is not covered by Maternity Benefit but you will be entitled to a credited social insurance contribution for each week of unpaid leave you take (up to the maximum of 16). Against the backdrop of a proposed EU Directive on improving work life balance, there have been a number of important legislative proposals in Ireland focusing on family leave in the past two years: The Government has approved the priority drafting of the necessary legislation to introduce the 2019 Bill later this year. Web: www.pensionsauthority.ie, Email:
[email protected], A Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA), Find out how personalising this site will greatly enhance your browsing experience. 26 working weeks' parental leave per parent). 18 weeks unpaid leave for each child under the age of 8 (child with long term illness under 16 years). For instance, an employee on parental leave will continue to accrue service and statutory annual leave and public holiday entitlement as normal. Any such transfer is capped at 14 working weeks. Please visit our Cookie Policy page for more information about cookies and how we use them. Our website uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, analyse site traffic, personalise content, and serve targeted advertisements. The new Bill also intends to increase the eligibility age of children from eight years to 12 years. This also applies to people acting in loco parentis where they have legal responsibility for a child. You will not be paid for this, but you will get a social insurance (PRSI) credit for each week of unpaid leave you take. Key themes, including promoting the "participation of women in the labour market" and "making it easier for men to share the responsibilities of caring for children" are expressly called out within the General Scheme of the 2019 Bill. There is no social welfare benefit like maternity benefit. The current legislation entitles parents to take parental leave in one continuous "'block" of 18 working weeks, or two separate blocks. Despite concerns being raised by employer representative bodies around the cost and impact, of facilitating such leave, paid parental leave is on the way before the year is out. What are my rights under the Maternity Protection Acts 1994–2004? This will be paid by the State at the same rate as the current State Maternity Benefit (€245 per week) – i.e. The emphasis on accurate record-keeping is further underlined in the General Scheme of the 2019 Bill, which envisages the Workplace Relations Commission prosecuting such offences. So what does this mean for employers when it comes to managing parental leave requests from employees – and how much will it cost? Read also: … The operational aspects of parental leave entitlement are unchanged by the new bills. Paid Parental Leave is on the way – what do Irish employers need to know? In order to personalise your content you must select all three options. If the mother dies more than 24 weeks after the birth, the father can take maternity leave up until 40 weeks after the birth. Our website uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, analyse site traffic, personalise content, and serve targeted advertisements. Parental leave policies will need to be updated to reflect the new enhancements when the bills are enacted and accurate records of all applications should be maintained. It is proposed that this Parental Benefit will gradually increase to seven weeks paid parental leave over the next three years. Any parents who have already exceeded their current entitlement (18 weeks) will be entitled to an additional eight weeks' unpaid parental leave if the Bill is enacted. Any parents who have already exceeded their current entitlement (18 weeks) will be entitled to an additional eight weeks' unpaid parental leave if the Bill is enacted. The 2017 Bill proposes to increase the parental leave entitlement by an additional eight weeks (i.e. The current entitlement is to 26 weeks’ maternity leave together with 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave. The 2019 Bill envisages parents taking the paid parental leave in blocks of "not less than one week" and that parents availing of additional maternity or adoptive leave may take their portion of paid parental leave beforehand. Firstly, a private member's bill, (the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2017 (the, Secondly, this month the Government published the General Scheme of its Parental Leave and Benefit Bill 2019 (the. Please visit our privacy statement page for more information about cookies and how we use them. At the discretion of the employer, the parental leave entitlement can be taken in other forms broken down over days or even hours. When your paid Maternity Benefit ends, it is possible to take 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. This additional maternity leave can be up to 16 weeks but is unpaid and must start immediately after the end of maternity leave. The current entitlement is to 26 weeks’ maternity leave together with 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave. To be entitled to this, the employee generally has to have completed one year's continuous employment with their current employer. Although parental leave is unpaid, taking such leave will not affect other employment rights and entitlements. Similar to the situation of State Maternity and Paternity Benefit, it will be up to individual employers to determine whether or not to "top up" the Parental Benefit amount. There is also scope for the "prosecutor's" costs and expenses "reasonably incurred in relation to the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence" to be awarded. 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By introducing a longer entitlement to parental leave until children are older, alongside the 2019 Bill's promise of two weeks of such leave being paid by the State, the legislative proposals seek to incentivise more men (in particular) to avail of at least some of their parental leave entitlement. Your pension entitlements during maternity leave depend on the nature and terms of your pension arrangement. You will continue to accrue pensionable service during the period of statutory leave. the Parental Benefit. Under the Maternity Protection Acts, you may be entitled to statutory minimum maternity leave of 26 weeks with an additional 16 weeks unpaid. Both parents have an equal separate entitlement to parental leave and this entitlement can only be transferred from one parent to another. Building on existing statutory entitlements to paid maternity and paternity leave, the 2019 Bill introduces the concept of paid parental leave for employees in Ireland for the first time. As detailed in our previous client alerter in June 2018, the Parental Leave Acts 1998 and 2006 entitle parents of children up to eight years, or up to 16 years if the child has a disability or long term illness, to 18 working weeks' unpaid parental leave per child. This includes an employee's one year prior service requirement and the processing of applications for parental leave. The entitlement to leave is enshrined in the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 and the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act, 2004. The Minister also expressed a hope that encouraging fathers to take such time off will "contribute to changing the existing culture regarding work and gender". If you are a member of a pension scheme, your membership must continue while on statutory maternity leave. The Maternity Protection Acts give a pregnant employee the right to: • 26 weeks’ paid maternity leave (you may be entitled to a social protection payment or your employer might continue to pay you); • … Employees (including casual workers) who become pregnant are entitled to Maternity Leave, regardless of how long they have been working for the organisation or the number of hours worked per week. You can take a further 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave which must be taken immediately after the end of your 26 weeks’ paid Maternity Benefit. Your pension entitlements during maternity leave depend on the nature and terms of your pension arrangement. Find out how personalising this site will greatly enhance your browsing experience. Copies of the Acts may be viewed or downloaded here – Maternity Protection Act, 1994 and Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act, 2004. The 2019 Bill envisages that such priorities are to be balanced and should not impose an "undue burden on employers". 1. The 2019 Bill If you wish to claim Maternity Benefit credit click here. The Pensions Authority, Verschoyle House, 28-30 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2, D02 KX27. An employer is also entitled to postpone any application for parental leave for up to six months if granting such leave at that point in time would have a "substantial adverse effect on the operation" of the employer's business. For more information in relation to this topic, please contact Ailbhe Dennehy, Senior Associate, or any member of the A&L Goodbody Employment team. What are the current parental leave entitlements? The 2019 Bill proposes that such records should be maintained for eight years after the parental leave is taken and envisages class B fines for failure to keep such records. Information regarding Maternity Benefits may be obtained from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. If you have your own personal pension or Personal Retirement Savings Account you may be able to continue contributing provided your total contributions for the tax year are within the limits permitted by Revenue. The concept of parental leave is not new and has been provided for under Irish legislation for over 20 years. The leave starts within 7 days of the mother’s death. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection has commented that the fact the Parental Benefit will be non-transferable and available to parents on a 'use it or lose it' basis will help "incentivise fathers to take more time off work to care for their children". Subject to PRSI contributions, as of November 2019, during the first year of a child's life both parents will have access to two weeks parental leave. This only applies where both parents work for the same employer and the employer agrees to such a transfer. With the Summer break just around the corner, the question of childcare is at the forefront of many parents' minds, and so too the issue of parental leave entitlement.