Parental Leave to be allowed until a child turns eight

PARENTS will be allowed to take unpaid Parental Leave until their child is eight years old — up from the previous maximum of five years of age.

The change in the law will finally be implemented next year by the Government after years of confusion over the age limit for availing of Parental Leave.

The age extension is part of a range of improvements to existing parental leave provisions to be implemented including:

Increasing the maximum age of the eligible child to 16 years in the case of children with disabilities.

Leave to be taken in a broken format and over a longer period of time, through a statutory entitlement to take the usual 14 weeks of parental leave in separate blocks of a minimum of six continuous weeks, or other terms as agreed with employers.

Extending parental leave entitlements to persons acting in loco parentis in respect of an eligible child.

Parents who become ill while on parental leave and as a result are unable to care for the child will be entitled to benefit from sick leave for the duration of the illness.

The provision for statutory codes of practice on the manner in which parental leave and force majeure leave might be taken and the manner in which an employer can terminate parental leave.

The changes to the Parental Leave Act 1998 were approved by the Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday but the bill containing the amendments will not be published until nearer the end of the year.

The changes came about as a result of the recommendations made more than two years ago by the Working Group on the Review of the Parental Leave Act 1998.

The Government agreed to implement the group’s report as part of a package of legislation on employment rights in the Sustaining Progress national wage agreement.

Announcing the changes, Junior Justice Minister Willie O’Dea said the amendments would enhance the entitlement of employees to take time off to care for their children.

“The bill... will also extend the entitlement to persons in loco parentis which recognises that many children in our society today are actively cared for by persons who are not their natural parents,” Mr O’Dea said.