Parental Leave - What do employers need to know?

Category HR Focus

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bISME

Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019 – What do employers need to know?

From 1st September 2019 the Parental Leave entitlement is scheduled to change due to the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019. While the core details of the act remain unchanged, employers do need to familiarise themselves with the update in order to ensure that they are prepared for any requests that they receive from employees.

To avoid a situation where employees are out of the business for an additional four – eight weeks absence which could be very disruptive, employers are advised to negotiate with employees to have the leave taken incrementally over an extended period which would be a more manageable proposition. If this is the case employers will need to consider introducing a ‘Flexible Working’ policy to ensure that there are clear guidelines established.

Even though employers are required to provide Parental Leave when it is requested, if there are objective grounds, they can postpone issuing it by up to six months.

This can only be done up to the point before the leave is formally confirmed and authorised, after which point the leave cannot be postponed.

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The existing Act allows for employees who are parents and have completed one years’ service, to take up to 18 weeks unpaid leave for any children they have up to the age of 8. Parents of a child with a disability or long-term illness up to the age of 16 can are eligible.

The leave is considered to be reckonable service, meaning that all normal entitlements accrue such as Annual Leave and employees receive payment for public holidays although the parental leave is unpaid and pension contributions are not to be made.

There is a phased extension to the leave period, first from 18 to 22 weeks on the 1st September this year, and then from 22 to 26 weeks on 1st of September in 2020. As well as this, the age of entitlement to make a claim for a child has increased from 8 to 12 years of age. The provision for children with disability or long-term illness remains unchanged.

While the full increase to 26 weeks is significant, it is hoped that employers will not be adversely impacted as recruiting cover for a six-month period is deemed to be more realistic proposition than sourcing adequate cover for a little over four months. The main challenge that ISME envisage for employers is the entitlement of employees that have already utilised the 18 weeks under the existing legislation to take the balance of either 22 weeks or 26 weeks for any children up to the age of 12.

Employers are required to retain details of Parental Leave for up to eight years in the event of a query from the relevant authorities.

If employers are unable to return an individual to their original position, they must be offered a suitable alternative with terms and conditions that are equal to or better than their previous agreements. It is important to note that failure to return an employee to their original position could result in a case of unfair dismissal. For this reason, ISME advise that an employer should seek advice from a Human Resources practitioner should this situation arise.

For HR queries please contact our HR Advice team on hr@isme.

Mark O’Connor HR Adviser

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