The increase to Parent’s Leave and Benefit by an additional 3 weeks as announced in Budget 2021 is a very welcome extension for parents. This means that each parent will be entitled to 5 weeks Parent’s leave and Benefit in total, assuming all eligibility criteria has been satisfied.

Parent’s Leave and Benefit were introduced on the 1^st of November 2019 for parents in employment or self-employment. The purpose of this new statutory leave introduced last year is to allow working parents to spend more time with their child or adopted child during the first year.

Parent’s leave is applicable where the date of confinement in respect of the child falls on or after the 1^st  November 2019, or where a child is or is to be adopted and the date of placement in respect of the child falls on or after the 1^st November 2019.

In Budget 2021, it was announced that Parent’s Leave and Benefit will increase to 5 weeks from April 2021. The period of qualification will extend to the child’s first 2 years (or up to 2 years from adoption). As this change is still required to be passed by legislation, we will endeavour to update Employers on further developments.

We advise that Organisations keep up to date with any legislative changes in Employment Law, update their policies to reflect these changes and inform Employees of their current and new entitlements.

The below table outlines current Employee entitlements to statutory leave in Ireland.