2018 has seen some exciting developments in Employment & Pensions law. In our “12 Days of Christmas” series, William Fry’s Employment & Benefits team brings you the highlights of the year gone by.
In our first theme, we take a look back at the changes (and proposed changes) in connection with workplace leave.
Introduction of extended maternity leave in cases of premature births
In January 2018, we reported on the introduction of the Social Welfare Act 2017 (the “2017 Act”), which was partly enacted in December 2017. The Act extended the period of maternity leave (and maternity State benefit) for mothers of babies born prematurely on or after 1 October 2017. The further period of maternity leave provided for is equal to the ‘premature birth period’ (commencing on the actual date of birth and expiring two weeks before the expected week of birth). Readers will recall that the key takeaways for employers centred around creating an awareness of the change in law and updating relevant benefits, policies and procedures to account for these changes. Read our full original article here.
Increased parental leave provisions
In June 2018, we brought news of the Government’s proposed changes to parental leave entitlements. Under the existing scheme (which remains in force today), parents are entitled to 18 working weeks (4 months) of parental leave in respect of each child aged up to 8 years (or 16 years where the child has a disability or long-term illness). However, the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2017 (the “Bill”) proposes to extend the parental leave entitlement to 26 weeks (6 months) in respect of each child, while the relevant age of the child would be increased from 8 to 12 years of age. Read our full original article here.
The Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill 2017 has completed second stage of the Seanad. Once it passes the Seanad, it will be signed into law by the President. In a related development, as part of Budget 2019, a new Parental Leave Scheme was announced which will provide two weeks paid leave to every parent during the first year of their child’s life. At present, there has been no confirmation of how the paid parental leave will align with existing maternity, paternity and parental leave schemes.
Shared Maternity Leave and Benefit Bill 2018
In July 2018, we wrote about Fianna Fáil’s proposed Shared Maternity Leave and Benefit Bill (the “Bill”), which seeks to enable parents to share ordinary maternity leave. Under the Bill, a pregnant employee may share their entitlement to ordinary maternity leave (i.e. 26 weeks) with an employee who is a ‘relevant parent’ of the child. Under the proposed legislation, the term ‘Relevant Parent’ assumes the definition provided under the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 and includes the father of the child, the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the mother of the child. In an adoption situation, the relevant parent is the spouse selected by the adopting couple.
If passed, the participants in the new scheme will have the opportunity to share not just ordinary maternity leave, but also the associated State maternity benefit. The Bill also clarifies that shared maternity leave is supplemental to statutory paternity leave (currently 2 weeks). A similar scheme has been operating successfully in the UK since 2015. The Shared Maternity Leave and Benefit Bill 2018 is currently at third stage of Dáil Éireann. Read our full original article here.
