Both male and female
workers have the individual right to be
granted paid parental leave upon birth, adoption, child fostering in the case
of foster parents, or legal custody of a child, to enable them to take care of
that child.
Parental leave
entitlement is of four (4) months per
parent until the child reaches the age of eight (8) years.
If an employee is benefitting from parental leave prior to
the 2nd August 2022, this means that the birth occurred before the 2nd
August 2022, and thus the 4 months unpaid will apply. New parental leave
entitlements came in effect for births/adoptions occurring from the 2nd
August 2022.
Parental leave shall be
paid per parent for a period of two (2) months (8 weeks), at the same rate
established for the sickness benefit entitlement under the Social Security Act
and shall be availed of in established periods of at least two (2) weeks each.
The 8 weeks of parental
leave that will be paid as explained above, shall be taken in accordance to the age of the child or
children for whose care parental leave was granted, as follows:
(a) Where the child or children has or have not attained four (4)
years of age = fifty per centum (50%) of entitlement (4 weeks) will be paid;
(b) Where the child or children has or have
attained the age of four (4) years but has or have not yet attained the age of six
(6) years= twenty five per centum (25%) of entitlement (2 weeks) will be paid;
(c) Where the child or children has or have
attained the age of six (6) years but has or have not yet attained eight (8)
years of age= twenty five per centum (25%) of entitlement (2 weeks) will be
paid.
In the case of parental
leave granted to foster parents, the rate of payment shall be the same as explained above, on condition that payment will be given per parent not for each child
fostered.
An employee must have at
least 12 months continuous service with his/her employer to be eligible to
apply for Parental Leave, unless a shorter period is agreed to.
Every employer shall be bound to keep parental leave records
for every worker.
An employee may request such records in writing. This request may be made even after termination of employment. The employer should provide
a written statement of such leave within two (2) weeks of the request.
This entitlement is
regulated by: The Work-Life Balance for Parents and Carers Regulations,2022
Disclaimer: On clicking the links above you will be redirected to an external website. The Department of Industrial and Employment Relations accepts no responsibility for the content of this website.