Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every female employee—

shall be entitled to maternity leave in accordance with this Act.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every female employee—

shall be entitled to maternity leave in accordance with this Act.

A female employee shall not be entitled to maternity leave in respect of a child by virtue of subsection (1) if she has previously taken, in respect of that child, a period of leave, being—

Maternity leave must be taken in 1 continuous period not exceeding 16 weeks, subject to subsection (2).

If a female employee begins her maternity leave—

the female employee shall be entitled to take at least 10 weeks of her maternity leave after the expected date of delivery and, if necessary for that purpose, to extend the duration of her maternity leave.

A period of maternity leave in excess of 16 weeks taken by a female employee under subsection (2) is to be treated as maternity leave for the purposes of this Act, but must not be taken into account in assessing under section 26 any period of extended leave to which the female employee or her spouse or partner may be entitled under this Act.

Maternity leave shall begin—

Maternity leave may, at the option of the female employee and subject to compliance with section 37, begin on a date which is earlier, by not more than 6 weeks,—

Maternity leave may, by agreement between the female employee and her employer, begin on any date before the date of confinement.

If a medical practitioner or midwife considers that the female employee, being pregnant, should begin her maternity leave before the expected date of delivery, the medical practitioner or midwife may give to the female employee a certificate specifying the date on which, in the medical practitioner’s or midwife’s opinion, that female employee should begin her maternity leave.

If the female employee gives that certificate to her employer, her maternity leave, despite section 10 or section 12 or section 14, begins on the earlier of—

Where, by reason of pregnancy, a female employee is unable to perform her work to the safety of herself or others or is incapable of performing her work adequately, her employer, if no other suitable work is available, may, subject to section 9(2), direct her to commence her maternity leave on such date as the employer appoints (including a date that is earlier, by more than 6 weeks, than the expected date of delivery).

A female employee who is pregnant is entitled, before taking maternity leave, to take a total of up to 10 days’ special leave without pay for reasons connected with her pregnancy.

No period of special leave taken under subsection (1) by a female employee shall be taken into account in assessing the period of maternity leave or the period of extended leave to which that female employee or her spouse or partner is entitled in accordance with this Act.

Where, by reason of pregnancy, a female employee is unable to perform her work to the safety of herself or others or is incapable of performing her work adequately, her employer may temporarily transfer her from one job to another.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every employee—

shall be entitled to partner’s/paternity leave in accordance with this Act.

Except as otherwise provided by this Act, every employee—

shall be entitled to partner’s/paternity leave in accordance with this Act.

An employee shall not be entitled to partner’s/paternity leave in respect of a child by virtue of subsection (1) if he or she has previously taken, in respect of that child, a period of leave, being—

Partner’s/paternity leave must be taken in 1 continuous period not exceeding—

This section applies if—

Employee B’s entitlement to partner’s/paternity leave is extended so that it is the same as the period of parental leave payments transferred to him or her.

However, if section 7(b)(ii) or section 8(1)(b)(ii) or section 18(1)(b)(ii) applies to employee A, the total period formed by adding together maternity leave or partner’s/paternity leave taken by employee A and extended partner’s/paternity leave taken by employee B may not exceed 16 weeks.

The taking by employee B of partner’s/paternity leave under section 19 does not reduce the leave entitlements of either employee under subsection (3).

This section applies if—

The spouse’s or partner’s entitlement to partner’s/paternity leave is extended so that it is the same as the period of parental leave payments transferred to him or her.

This section applies if section 18(1)(b)(ii) applies to an employee and he or she—

The employee’s entitlement to partner’s/paternity leave is the shorter of the following:

Partner’s/paternity leave shall begin—

Partner’s/paternity leave may, at the option of the employee, begin—

Partner’s/paternity leave may, by agreement between the employee and his or her employer, begin on any date.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, and subject to sections 25 to 30, every employee—

shall be entitled to extended leave in accordance with this Act.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, and subject to sections 25 to 30, every employee—

shall be entitled to extended leave in accordance with this Act.

An employee shall not be entitled to extended leave in respect of a child by virtue of subsection (1) if that employee has previously taken, in respect of that child, a period of leave, being—

Subject to subsections (2) and (4) and to sections 27 to 30, extended leave may be taken by the employee and the employee’s spouse or partner in no more than 1 continuous period each, the combined total of which does not exceed 52 weeks.

Where, on any occasion, a female employee takes maternity leave, the period of extended leave to which she or her spouse or partner is entitled in respect of the child shall be the period specified in subsection (1) reduced by the total period of the maternity leave taken excluding any period of maternity leave in excess of 16 weeks taken pursuant to section 9(2).

The taking by a female employee of any special leave pursuant to section 15 shall not reduce the period of extended leave to which that female employee or her spouse or partner is entitled in accordance with this Act.

The taking by an employee of a period of partner’s/paternity leave affects the period of extended leave to which the employee and his or her spouse or partner are entitled in accordance with this Act as follows:

Subject to the provisions of this Act, where an employee and that employee’s spouse or partner are both entitled to extended leave pursuant to section 23 or section 24, the combined entitlements of that employee and that employee’s spouse or partner to extended leave under this Act shall be a total period or periods not exceeding 52 weeks which shall be shared between them in accordance with subsection (2).

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the period or periods of extended leave provided by section 26(1) shall be shared between an employee and that employee’s spouse or partner in one of the following ways:

Subject to the provisions of this Act, where an employee takes a period of extended leave in accordance with section 27, the period of leave so taken may be taken consecutively or concurrently with any period of maternity leave, partner’s/paternity leave, or extended leave taken by the employee or the employee’s spouse or partner, or any period for which the employee’s spouse or partner receives a parental leave payment, as the case may be, under this Act.

Except as otherwise provided by section 27 or section 30, extended leave shall begin,—

Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, no employee shall be entitled to commence or continue any period of extended leave under this Act after—

An employee who wishes to take parental leave under this Act shall give written notice to the employee’s employer of the employee’s wish to take that leave.

The notice under subsection (1) shall state the proposed date on which the employee wishes to commence leave, and the duration of the leave.

Except where the employee is proposing to adopt a child, the notice under subsection (1)—

Where any notice is given in accordance with section 31 by an employee wishing to take any period of extended leave under this Act, that notice shall, in addition to the matters required by that section or by section 33,—

Where the employee is proposing to adopt a child, the notice required to be given by section 31(1) shall,—

Where any employee gives a written notice to the employee’s employer stating that the employee wishes to take parental leave under this Act and any of the provisions of sections 31 to 33 that apply in respect of any information or assurance to be stated or given in, or any document required to accompany, that notice are not complied with, that notice shall be an incomplete notice for the purposes of subsection (2) and sections 35(2) and 36(2).

Where an employee gives an incomplete notice within the meaning of subsection (1), the employer of that employee shall, within 7 days after the date on which it comes to that employer’s attention that the notice is an incomplete notice, give to the employee a written notice stating that the notice is an incomplete notice and specifying the additional information, documentation, or assurance that the employee is required by any provision of sections 31 to 33 to give to the employer.

An employee to whom a notice is given under subsection (2) shall, within 14 days after the date on which the employee receives the notice, give to the employer the additional information, documentation, or assurance specified in the notice and required by any provision of sections 31 to 33 to be given to the employer.

Subject to section 68, where an employee fails to give notice under section 31(1) within the time required by section 31(3) or section 33, that employee shall not be entitled to take extended leave under this Act unless—

Nothing in subsection (1) shall apply to an employee who gives an incomplete notice to that employee’s employer within the time required by section 31(3) or section 33.

Subject to subsection (2), every employer who receives a notice under section 31(1) shall, within 21 days after the receipt of the notice, give to the employee who gave that notice a written notice in the prescribed form—

Where an employer receives a notice that is an incomplete notice that employer shall, within 21 days after the date of the receipt by the employer of the additional information, documentation, or assurance specified in the notice given under section 34(2), give to the employee a notice complying with subsection (1) of this section.

Where any employee receives a notice given under subsection (1) or under subsection (1) (as applied by subsection (2)) and the employee disputes any statement given in that notice, that employee may invoke any procedure set out in Part 7.

A female employee,—

shall give to her employer not less than 21 days’ notice in writing of the day on which she wishes her maternity leave to begin.

Within 21 days after the beginning of an employee’s parental leave, the employer of the employee shall give to the employee written notice stating—

Every employee who is on parental leave and whose position is being kept open by the employer, shall, not later than 21 days before the date on which the employee’s parental leave ends, give to the employer written notice stating whether or not the employee will be returning to work at the end of the employee’s parental leave.

Where an employee chooses,—

the employee shall give to the employer not less than 21 days’ notice in writing of the date on which the employee intends to return to work or begin the period of preference, as the case may be.

Where an employee takes a continuous period of parental leave—

the employer shall be presumed, in any proceedings under this Act, to be able to keep open for the employee, until the end of that period of parental leave, the employee’s position in the employment of the employer unless the employer proves that the employee’s position cannot be kept open because of the occurrence of a redundancy situation.

For the purposes of determining under subsection (1) whether an employer has had no less notice of a period of parental leave than the period of notice required by section 31(3) or section 33, as the case may be, it shall be sufficient if the employer had notice that a period of parental leave not exceeding 4 weeks would be taken by the employee, notwithstanding that the employer did not have the requisite notice of the exact date on which the period of parental leave would commence, and the exact date on which it would cease.

The reference in subsection (1) to the employee’s position in the employment of the employer shall be a reference to the position ordinarily held by the employee, and shall not include any position to which the employee was temporarily transferred under section 16.

Where an employee takes a period of parental leave (other than a period of parental leave referred to in section 40) the employer shall be presumed in any proceedings under this Act, to be able to keep open for the employee, until the end of the employee’s parental leave, the employee’s position in the employment of the employer unless the employer proves that the employee’s position cannot be kept open—

In determining whether or not a position is a key position for the purposes of subsection (1)(a), regard may be had, among other things, to—

The reference in subsection (1) to the employee’s position in the employment of the employer shall be a reference to the position ordinarily held by the employee, and shall not include any position to which the employee was temporarily transferred under section 16.

Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the employer of an employee who takes any form of parental leave in accordance with this Act shall not be obliged to pay that employee any remuneration for—

If an employee becomes entitled to an annual holiday on pay during—

the employee is, despite anything in section 21 of the Holidays Act 2003, entitled to holiday pay for that holiday only at the rate of the employee’s average weekly earnings for the 12 months immediately before the end of the last pay period before the annual holiday is taken or paid out.

Where an employee resumes service with the same employer at the end of a period of parental leave or while the employee is entitled, following parental leave, to preference in obtaining employment with the employee’s employer—

Nothing in section 43(b)(ii) shall—

Subject to compliance with section 39(2), an employee who is on parental leave may,—

choose—

Where a female employee is on maternity leave under section 7, an employer may, in giving consent under subsection (1)(e), make it conditional on the female employee giving to the employer, before the female employee ends her maternity leave under subsection (1)(f) or subsection (1)(g), a certificate from a medical practitioner to the effect that the female employee is fit to return to work.

Subject to subsection (4), an employee who is on parental leave may, if the employer consents, extend the parental leave until a specified date which shall thereafter be the date on which the employee’s parental leave will end.

Without limiting any right of an employee to take a period of leave otherwise than by virtue of this Act, and subject to section 9(2), nothing in subsection (3) of this section shall entitle an employee to extend any period of parental leave with the result that,—

If an employee who takes up parental leave and whose position is kept open by the employer—

the employee’s employment shall, subject to any agreement between the employer and the employee, be deemed to have been at an end as from the day on which the period of parental leave began.

If an employee who has taken parental leave fails, without reasonable excuse, to take up, on the date specified by the employer or within 7 days thereafter, any position substantially similar to the position ordinarily held by the employee before taking parental leave that is offered to the employee by the employee’s employer during the period of 26 weeks beginning with the day after the date on which the period of parental leave ends, that employee’s employment shall be deemed to have been at an end as from the day on which the period of parental leave began.

Where a temporary employee is employed to replace an employee who is on parental leave, the employer shall, before employing the temporary employee, inform the temporary employee in writing—

No employer shall terminate the employment of any employee—

It shall not be a contravention of subsection (1) for an employer to terminate the employment of an employee—

the employee absents himself or herself from work (other than with the agreement of the employee’s employer or in accordance with section 13 or section 14) for any period which the employee is not entitled to take as leave by reason of any provision of this Act or any entitlement to parental leave contained in any provision other than this Act.

Where—

the defences set out in sections 51 and 52 shall be available to the employer.

Where the termination is proved to have taken place during the employee’s absence on parental leave, it shall be a defence for the employer to prove—

Where the termination of employment is proved to have taken place during the period of 26 weeks beginning with the day after the date on which any period of the employee’s parental leave ended, it shall be a defence for the employer to prove—

Nothing in this Act shall affect any redundancy payment payable pursuant to the provisions of any Act or of any order or employment agreement.

Nothing in this Act shall affect any right of an employer to dismiss an employee for a substantial reason not related to—

Where any employee alleges that the employee’s employer has, within the preceding 2 months and in contravention of section 49(1), terminated the employee’s employment or given the employee notice terminating the employee’s employment, the employee may apply ex parte to the Employment Relations Authority for an interim order reinstating the employee in the employee’s position or cancelling the notice terminating the employee’s employment.

Subject to subsection (3), every interim order made under subsection (1) shall expire on a date to be specified in the order, being the later of—

An interim order made under subsection (1) may be renewed by the Employment Relations Authority from time to time on the ex parte application of the employee in whose favour it was made if the Employment Relations Authority is satisfied that the employee is taking reasonable steps to use the procedures available to the employee under sections 57 to 67.

An officer of the Employment Relations Authority shall send a copy of the interim order and of every decision renewing the interim order to the employer by registered letter.

Where any employee alleges that the employee’s employer—

that allegation shall be a parental leave complaint to which this section applies, and the employee may use, in respect of that parental leave complaint, the procedures provided in sections 57 to 67.

A parental leave complaint to which this section applies shall not be made—

whichever is the later.

The procedures provided in sections 57 to 67 may be used before or after the making of an interim order under section 55.

A parental leave complaint to which this section applies is not a personal grievance within the meaning of section 103 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

The procedures for the settlement of a parental leave complaint shall be in accordance with this section and sections 58 to 67.

As soon as practicable after a parental leave complaint arises, the employee shall submit the complaint to the employee’s immediate supervisor, affording the immediate supervisor an opportunity to remedy the cause of the complaint, the intent being that it is desirable, if the circumstances permit it, to settle the complaint rapidly and as near as possible to the point of origin.

Where any such attempt at settlement has failed, or where the complaint is of such a nature that a direct discussion between the employee and the employee’s immediate supervisor would be inappropriate, the employee shall either—

Where the person notified under subsection (3)(a) considers that there is some substance in the parental leave complaint, that person shall forthwith take the matter up with the employer or the representative of the employer.

If the matter is not disposed of in discussion with the employer or the representative of the employer, the complaint shall be reduced to writing in a statement setting out all the facts relied on. The statement shall establish the nature of the employee’s complaint, and of the issues, for all subsequent consideration of the case.

Where a parental leave complaint is not disposed of between the parties, it may be referred to the Employment Relations Authority.

The Employment Relations Authority must, subject to any decision to provide mediation services, proceed to hear and determine the complaint and, in doing so, must consider—

Where any parental leave complaint comes before the Employment Relations Authority, sections 177 to 184 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 apply in relation to that parental leave complaint and sections 214 and 215 of that Act apply in relation to appeals to the Court of Appeal.

It shall be the duty of every party to a parental leave complaint—

In the case of any alleged breach of any of the provisions of this Act, any decision made for the purposes of this Act may, if it includes a finding that any of the provisions of this Act have been breached by the employer, provide for any 1 or more of the following:

Where the remedy of reinstatement is provided by the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court, the employee must be reinstated immediately or on such date as is specified by the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court and, despite any appeal against the determination of the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court, the provisions for reinstatement remain in full force pending the determination of the appeal.

An employer must not unreasonably refuse to allow an employee to exercise any rights and benefits in respect of parental leave or a parental leave payment that the employee would be entitled to exercise but for an irregularity.

In this section, irregularity means—

An employee, employer, or self-employed person, or a person acting on behalf of an employee, employer, or self-employed person, may apply to the Employment Relations Authority or the court for relief in respect of an irregularity.

The Employment Relations Authority or the court must grant relief to an employee in respect of a failure to comply with the notice requirements of this Act or of the alternative provision under which the leave is taken if satisfied that—

The Employment Relations Authority or the court may grant relief in respect of any other irregularity if it thinks it is reasonable to do so, having regard to the nature of the irregularity, the good faith or otherwise of the parties, and any other matters it thinks proper.

The Employment Relations Authority or the court may grant relief—

A certificate under the hand of the Registrar of the court, specifying the amount payable under any order for the payment of money made under this Act by the court, and the persons by whom and to whom it is payable, may be filed in any District Court, and, subject to subsection (2), shall then be enforceable in the same manner as a judgment given by a District Court in an action for the recovery of a debt.

No proceedings shall be taken under the Imprisonment for Debt Limitation Act 1908 against any person for failing or refusing to pay any penalty imposed on that person under this Act.

A Labour Inspector may—

A Labour Inspector must, as soon as practicable after making a determination, serve a copy on the employee and the employer.

The consequences of a determination are that it is prima facie evidence of the matter determined.

A Labour Inspector may serve on an employer a demand notice, in the prescribed form, if—

A demand notice must be served—

An employer or an employee may lodge with the Employment Relations Authority an objection to a determination or a demand notice.

An objection must be lodged with the Authority within 28 days after the determination or demand notice is served on the employer or employee who makes the objection.

A demand notice has the consequences specified in section 70D—

The consequences of a demand notice are that it—

The function of the Employment Relations Authority in respect of an objection is to determine whether or not the employee has the entitlement specified in the determination or demand notice.

A demand notice may be withdrawn at any time by a Labour Inspector, but the withdrawal of a demand notice does not prevent another demand notice being served in relation to the same matter.

A Labour Inspector may, if requested by the department,—

The department may, for the purposes of obtaining a determination under this section, supply to the Labour Inspector any information provided by the self-employed person.

The Labour Inspector may, for the purposes of carrying out the Inspector’s functions under this section, request the self-employed person to provide any further information relevant to the matter being determined by the Labour Inspector.

A Labour Inspector must, as soon as practicable after making a determination, serve a copy on the self-employed person and the department.

The consequence of a determination is that it is prima facie evidence of the matter determined.

Nothing in this Act shall limit the procedures by which State employees may enforce their conditions of employment and those procedures may be used, where appropriate, to enforce the rights conferred on State employees by this Act.

The purpose of this Part is to entitle certain employees and self-employed persons to up to 16 weeks of parental leave payments out of public money when they take parental leave.

Section 71A and this section are preliminary provisions relating to the parental leave scheme.

Sections 71C to 71CD are interpretation provisions for this Part.

Sections 71D and 71DA confer entitlements to parental leave payments, primarily on female employees and self-employed persons respectively.

Sections 71E and 71EA enable employees and self-employed persons to transfer their entitlements under sections 71D and 71DA, in certain circumstances, to their spouse or partner.

Sections 71F to 71H contain restrictions on entitlements to parental leave payments.

Sections 71I and 71IA cover the making of an application for payment and provide the department with a discretion to approve irregular applications.

Sections 71J to 71P relate to the duration and amount of parental leave payments.

Sections 71Q to 71ZB relate to the administration of the parental leave payment scheme.

This section is intended only as a guide to the general scheme and effect of this Part.

In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,—

In this Part, eligible employee means—

Rights and benefits to non-statutory parental leave (and section 4) are ignored when considering whether a person is an eligible employee under this section.

In this Part, eligible self-employed person means—

For the purposes of subsection (1) and section 71E(3) and (4), a person is treated as being self-employed for an hour, despite not working as a self-employed person for that hour, if the person is—

However, by virtue of subsection (1)(b), a self-employed person is not entitled to parental leave payments in respect of a child if he or she has previously received parental leave payments in respect of that child.

This section applies for the purposes of determining the rights, in relation to a parental leave payment, of a person who is engaged in more than 1 type of work on a self-employed basis. Those rights include the right of a self-employed person to have a parental leave payment transferred to him or her under section 71E.

If the self-employed person is engaged in more than 1 type of work—

In this Part, a self-employed person is not to be treated as having returned to work because he or she—