In this Article, we look at the up to date leave entitlements available to Employees of which both Employers and Employees should be aware.
- Domestic Violence Leave
This leave entitlement was introduced by the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 and came into force on the 27th of November 2023. This leave allows for 5 days of paid leave for any employee who is suffering or has suffered an incident of domestic violence in any period of 12 consecutive months at the normal rate of pay. There are no minimum service requirements, and no evidence is required to support an application for leave. It is acceptable for an employer to seek “sufficient explanation” from an employee to satisfy themselves that the entitlement to Domestic Violence Leave arises.
The intention of the leave is to allow sufficient time for an employee to seek medical assistance, support services, counselling, availability to change their living arrangements (temporarily or permanently), seek legal advice, attend with An Garda Siochana, obtain Safety/Barring Orders from the Courts etc.
- Parents Leave & Parents Benefit
From August 2024, the Parents Leave/Parents Benefit is extended from 7 to 9 weeks of leave. Parents Leave/Parents Benefit is available to “relevant parents” which is any parent/adopting parent of a child or to the spouse, civil partner or co-habitant of the parent, or the spouse/civil parent of an adopting parent of a child, whose child was born or adopted on or after the 1st of November 2019. There is no minimum length of service required. The leave may be taken in one or two separate blocks of no less than one week and must be taken within the first two years of the child’s birth/adoption. There is no obligation for a company to pay an employee on Parents Leave. An employee may be entitled to the State Parent’s Benefit, provided sufficient PRSI contributions are in place.
- Statutory Sick Pay
The Sick Leave Act 2022 came into force in January 2023. The original leave entitlement was for 3 days which has been increased to 5 days from the 1st of January 2024. It was anticipated that this would increase to 7 days in 2025 however it now appears there will be a delay in this next increase.
Statutory Sick pay provides for up to 70% of pay to employees from the employer, subject to a daily threshold of €110.00 per day. There is a minimum length of service requirement of continuous service of 13 weeks or more. The entitlement to sick leave applies from the first day of absence and does not need to run consecutively. Employees are required to furnish a Medical Certificate from a registered Medical Practitioner covering each day of absence and stating that the employee is unable to work.
Importantly, employers with a Sick Pay Scheme in operation are exempt from the obligations of the Sick Leave Act 2022 and statutory sick pay, provided that the existing Sick Pay Scheme is equal to or more favorable than the statutory entitlement.
Even more importantly, employers should be aware that if they fail to provide the statutory sick pay, an employee who submits a complaint to the WRC can be awarded up to four weeks’ pay in addition to the statutory sick leave entitlement. If an employer is claiming that they cannot afford to discharge the sick pay obligations then they may be entitled to an exemption from the Labour Court but to avail of this, they must provide evidence to establish that it is suffering severe financial difficulties.
- Medical Care Leave
Employees are now entitled to up to 5 days unpaid leave for medical care purposes from the 3rd of July 2023.
- Maternity and Pregnancy Related Leave
Transgender men who have given birth are entitled to access maternity and pregnancy related leave and entitlements from the 3rd of July 2023.
- Breast Feeding Mothers
Breast Feeding Mothers are now entitled to take paid time off work from 26 weeks to 104 weeks from the 3rd of July 2023.
If you have any query in relation to Employment Law matters, please do not hesitate to contact Brendan Dillon or Donna Phelan here at 01 2960666.
