Parental Leave Policy

You are entitled to 26 weeks’ unpaid parental leave to enable you to take care of the child concerned. 

The leave must be taken before the child reaches 12 years of age. In the case of a child with a disability the leave must be taken before the child reaches 16 years of age. 

Employees who previously availed of 22 weeks’ parental leave and whose child is under 12 years of age are entitled to a further 4 weeks leave. It is the policy of the company to allow for the Parental Leave to be broken up. This entitlement will be at management’s discretion. 

Employees who have an outstanding balance of their 22 weeks leave and whose child is under 12 years of age are entitled to take the balance of the untaken weeks along with the additional 4 weeks. 

Employees who have not previously availed of parental leave in relation to the child concerned are required to take their parental leave for the child in question in a continuous block of 26 weeks, or two blocks of six or more weeks with a minimum of 10 weeks between each block. It is the policy of the company to allow for the Parental Leave to be broken up. This entitlement will be at management’s discretion. 

In the case of an adopted child, who is under 10 years at the time of adoption, the leave must be taken before the child reaches 12 years of age. If the child is aged between 10 and 12 years, at the time of adoption, the leave must be taken within two years of the adoption order. 

Each parent has a separate entitlement to parental leave from his or her job, up to 14 of their 26 weeks of parental leave may be transferred between parents working in the same company with the agreement of the employer. 

Where a parent has more than one child, no more than 26 weeks’ parental leave may be taken in any 12-month period, except in the case of multiple births. 

You must have one year’s continuous service with the organisation before you are entitled to take parental leave. However, if you have more than three months’ service, and where your child is approaching the age threshold, you will be entitled to one week’s parental leave for every month of continuous employment completed with the organisation. 

Any period of probation, training or apprenticeship will be suspended while you are on parental leave and will be completed on your return. 

Full-time and part-time staff (pro rata) can avail of the entitlement once they fulfill the above criteria. 

Right to request a change to working hours or working patterns on return from parental leave.

You must fill out and submit an application form not later than six weeks before the commencement of the leave. This can be found in the Logbook Section of People HR. Once the form is submitted, it will be sent to your Manager for approval. The request must specify the commencement date, duration, and mechanism for taking parental leave and include the child's birth certificate or adoption order. The request will then be sent to your Manager/Supervisor for approval.

If you wish to revoke your notice of intention to take parental leave, you must do so in writing to the organisation at least four weeks before the leave is due to commence. You can only revoke your notice to parental leave prior to signing the confirmation document. After both parties have signed the confirmation document, alterations to the document can only be made by agreement between both parties.

Employees who have not previously availed of parental leave in relation to the child concerned, as of the 19th July 2019 / the commencement of the Act, may take the parental leave as a continuous block of 26 weeks, or two blocks of six or more weeks with a minimum of 10 weeks between each block.

Employees in scope for the additional 4 weeks may take the leave in blocks comprising of no less than one week. 

It is the policy of the company to allow for the Parental Leave to be broken up into weeks or days. This entitlement will be at management’s discretion and taking the needs of the business will be taken into consideration.