Parent's Leave is here

The Government’s newest way of enabling parents spend time with their new baby came into force on 1st November 2019. This is called Parent’s leave.

What you need to know:

• This leave is currently capped at 2 weeks. The leave must be used before the child turns 1. In cases of multiple births, this leave can only be claimed once.
• It can be taken as a continuous period of 2 weeks or in 2 separate 1 week blocks. 
• Parent’s leave must be taken following the end of maternity leave (paid or unpaid) or paternity leave – there cannot be a break between these leave types.
• Six weeks' notice of the intended use should be given to the employer by the employee.
• Employers are allowed postpone parent's leave in situations where taking this leave would have an adverse effect on the business. However, it cannot be postponed for more than 12 weeks.
• Parents receive a statutory payment, currently set at €245 per week (once they have the necessary PRSI contributions).

There is no requirement for employers to pay employees while on parent's leave. It will be up to each employer to decide if they want to top-up this payment. The advice would be to be consistent with approaches taken on the other family leave types.

What employers need to do now:

Company policies should now be reviewed and updated to reflect these changes. This will help you prepare for staff requests for parent’s leave. Should you get an employee request for parent’s leave, make sure you keep your paperwork & record keeping in order.

Bright Contracts has been updated with this policy so you can have peace of mind in knowing you are fully compliant with the new legislation.

Parent’s Leave & Benefit Bill... Some paid leave is on the way for all new parents!

The Government is working on a range of changes to help parents spend more quality time with their children. Last week, they published the new Parent's Leave and Benefit Bill 2019. This Bill is expected to be enacted on or before 1st November 2019.

So what is this….?

The new Parent’s Leave & Benefit Bill introduces the concept of paid parent's leave for employees for the first time in Ireland. Originally called the ‘Parental Leave & Benefit Bill’, this has had a name change to the Parent’s Leave & Benefit bill to clearly differentiate parent's leave from parental leave (which is a separate entitlement!).

What’s included in the new Bill?

• Parents will be able to take two weeks paid parents leave for any child born / adopted on or after 1st November 2019. The leave must be used before the child’s first birthday. In the case of multiple births, a parent will only be able to claim parents leave once.
• It is available to both parents and it can be taken as a continuous period of two weeks or in two separate one week blocks.
• An employee needs to give their employer six weeks' notice of when they want to take the leave, stating the expected start date and the duration.
• Employers are allowed postpone the parent's leave in situations where taking the leave would have a substantial adverse effect on the operation of the employer's business. Employers however cannot postpone the leave for more than 12 weeks.
• Parents receive a statutory payment of €245 per week (they need the necessary PRSI contributions to qualify!).

The Bill does not require employers to pay employees while on parent's leave. It will be up to each employer to decide if they want to top-up an employee's parent's benefit and, if so, by how much. The advice would be to be consistent with approaches taken on the other family leave types.

Company policies should be reviewed and updated to reflect the changes being introduced. This will help you prepare for any increase in staff requests. Make sure you keep your paperwork & record keeping in order.

Want to find out more? Register for our free employment law webinar.

BrightPay Payroll Software | Thesaurus Payroll Software

Posted byNicola SheridaninEmployment UpdateParental Leave

Schools are back! Using Parental Leave to help your staff get a good work-life balance

Many employees find it tough to balance their work responsibilities with the demands placed on them in their home and family lives. This is never more obvious than with the return of schools this week – school drop offs and collections, preparing healthy lunches for fussy little eaters, extra-curricular activities to attend, homework battles and an increase in time spent stuck in traffic are all too familiar occurrences come September….

Employers can support their staff by helping them adjust to their new daily routine through flexible working options and/or reduced hours working arrangements. Employers, however, will need to manage these requests carefully, ensuring there are no substantially adverse effects on their business. Very recently, there has been a number of changes made to Parental Leave that employers should be aware of.

So, what’s new with Parental Leave?

• Parental Leave entitlement has increased from 18 to 22 weeks. This is going to further increase again on 1st September 2020 to 26 weeks. Employers should be aware that, for their employees who have already taken their current entitlement, they will be able to take the additional 8 weeks of leave - provided they meet the eligibility requirements.
• The leave can be taken at any time prior to the child turning 12 years old. This was previously set at 8 years old. So any leave not taken previously, due to the fact that the child in question reached the previous limit of 8 years, will now become available for employees to use again.

What should I do?

As an employer, you will now need to update your Parental Leave policies to reflect these new changes (If you use our Bright Contracts package, we have updated these for you already in the Handbook section!). You need to put in place a process for keeping Parental Leave records – these need to be retained for 12 years.

You should review every application for Parental Leave very carefully – weighing up the impact of this request for both the staff member and your business. Parental Leave can be taken as either a block period or as single days. Staff must give you 6 weeks notice of any leave they wish to take. You can postpone a Parental Leave application request, based on business needs, for up to 6 months.

What are the benefits of being seen as a flexible employer?

• You can attract top talent as you will create a culture that respects and recognises that your staff have priorities outside of work.
• Improved retention of staff and less staff turnover as they are better able to manage their time. They will not feel under as much pressure or that it is not sustainable for them to keep working with you.
• Improved employee well-being – their emotional and mental health can benefit by being able to successfully multi-task family and work duties.
• Improved employee morale and loyalty to their employer.
• Improved diversity. As childcare still falls mainly on women, female talent is more likely to be retained as you have made facilities available to them to enable them to keep working.

There is no doubt that employers are increasingly supporting their staff by helping them to balance the demands of working versus homelife. In this current climate of skills shortages and demands for talented, committed staff, it is hoped that progressive steps such as flexible working options will enable parents, juggling these conflicting demands, to remain in the workplace and feel supported by their employer when doing so.

Book a demo of Bright Contracts today to find out how you can keep your Parental Leave policies updated and compliant with employment legislation.

BrightPay Payroll Software | Thesaurus Payroll Software

Posted byNicola SheridaninParental Leave