November 02, 2020
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 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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, update their policies to reflect these changes and inform Employees of their current and new entitlements.
Parent’s Leave can be taken in addition to existing Maternity Leave, Adoptive Leave, Paternity Leave and Parental Leave rights, as applicable to each "relevant" parent. A relevant parent includes a parent or spouse or civil partner or cohabitant of a parent of the child. Parent's Leave can be taken after the expiry of Maternity Leave, Adoptive Leave or Paternity Leave. Parent's Leave is both continuous and reckonable service when calculating redundancy entitlements.
Parent's Benefit is €245 per week and is payable to eligible parents during the parental leave, subject to the recipient meeting social security contribution conditions.
Employers are not required to top up Parent’s Benefit, though some Employers may do so in line with their existing policies regarding the top up of Maternity, Adoptive and Paternity pay.
The Employee has a right to return to work after Parent's Leave on the same terms and conditions as before. The Employee is protected from penalisation connected to taking Parent's Leave and the WRC can order the granting of the Parent's Leave and / or compensation of up to 2 weeks' remuneration where there is a breach of the legislation.