Ireland: 5 days of annual leave to care for a loved one

On 20 April, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman TD presented the government with the Work-Life Balance Bill that will bring the European Union’s work-life balance Directive into Irish law. The bill which received government approval a day later on 21 April provides that all employees will be able to take five days of unpaid leave per year to look after a sick child or to care for a relative. The text, which still has to be adopted by Parliament, also provides that parents or guardians of a child under the age of 12, as well as family caregivers, will be able to request flexible working arrangements (teleworking, or compressed or reduced hours), and have a choice over where they work. Until now, employees had to request their employers 6 months in advance. The new law will also extend the current entitlement to paid breastfeeding/lactation breaks under the Maternity Protection Acts from six months to two years, and will amend the law on maternity leave so that transgender employees who have given birth to a child will also be able to benefit. “This will help clarify confusing situations because at the moment some employees have these rights and others do not,” welcomed Mary Connaughton, Director of HR firm CIPD Ireland. The bill comes just a few months before the EU transposition deadline that gives Ireland until 02 August to transpose the European Directive.