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Parents Leave

Please contact the HR Department directly by email if you would like to apply for Parents Leave (Please see below).

hr@contactcare.ie

Parents Leave

The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act 2019 came into force on 1 November 2019. This Act introduced a new statutory entitlement for parents called ‘Parents Leave’. The Act was later amended by the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021 which came into force on 27 March 2021. The Acts apply to all relevant employees providing that the notification requirements are met.

Purpose

The purpose of Parents Leave is to enable you as a parent to provide, or assist in the provision of, care to the child during the first year.

Relevant Parents

A “relevant parent” for clarification purposes is:

  • the qualifying adopter
  • the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the qualifying adopter
  • a married couple of the same sex,
  • a couple that are civil partners of each other, or
  • a cohabiting couple of the same sex,
  • a parent of the child,
  • the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, as the case may be, of a parent of the child,
  • a parent of the child under section 5 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015,
  • where the child is a donor-conceived child within the meaning of Part 2 of that Act;

Parent’s leave cannot be transferred between parents – except in specified circumstances such as the death of one of the parents.

Application

The leave only applies to adoptions or babies born from 1 November 2019.

Leave

Following the enactment of the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021, the total Parents Leave entitlement is 7 weeks per relevant parent. The leave can be taken as a block of 7 weeks, or separate weeks of leave. The leave cannot be taken in any other way and must be used within 2 years of the adoption or birth of the baby.
Parent’s Benefit is only paid once for both single and multiple births. For example, if you have twins or adopt 2 children at the same time, you get one payment.

Notice

To avail of Parents, Leave the employee must give the employer 6 weeks’ notice in writing and provide evidence in the form of a copy of the birth cert or adoption confirmation.

Refusals
The request can only be refused if the employee is not entitled to it.

Postponement
The Company can postpone the Parents Leave for up to 12 weeks for the following reasons:

  • Seasonal variations in the volume of work
  • No replacement to carry out your work
  • The nature of your duties
  • The number of other employees also taking parent’s leave
  • Any other relevant matters

Annual Leave & Public Holidays

All employment rights such as annual leave and public holiday entitlements remain protected during Parents Leave.

Payment

The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will be responsible for making the benefit payment if the employee has the relevant social insurance (PRSI) contributions.
This is unpaid leave by the Company.