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Frequently Asked Questions
Legal Entitlements

1.	Do I have a legal right to work part-time? (Or to any other form of flexible working?)
2.	I work full-time. Will my statutory leave entitlements be affected if I opt for a work life balance working arrangement that involves a reduction in my working hours?
3.	What are my entitlements under the Maternity Protection Act?
4.	What are my entitlements under the Parental Leave Act 1998?
5.	What are my rights to Paternity Leave?
6.	A member of my family is in need of full-time care and attention. I am an employee and may have to give up work to look after the person. I heard about carer's leave. Would this apply to my situation?

While these questions and answers attempt to give general guidance, you should check with your usual advisors (employer organisations, trade unions, legal advisor, Department of Social, Community and Family affairs) in relation to the specifics of your case.

1 . Do I have a legal right to work part-time? (Or to any other form of flexible working?)
No. There is no legal entitlement for any employee to part time working arrangements. It is, along with job-sharing, work sharing, flexitime and flexi-place/teleworking, a type of arrangement which may help the employee reconcile work and family life while at the same time contributing to the effective and efficient operation of the enterprise. Arrangements may already be in place in your workplace. If not, it may be possible to start discussions with your employer about introducing new or additional arrangements. Trade unions can assist in the negotiation of arrangements. The National Framework Committee for Work Life Balance does not attempt to impose any single measure or model of non-statutory Work Life Balance policy or practice. ICTU, IBEC and Public Sector employers are committed to the development of Work Life Balance workplaces and will encourage and support the development of such workplaces in every practical way. There are many examples of Work Life Balance work practices and policies to choose from, depending on the needs of both employees and employers, with some arrangements being more appropriate than others, depending on the circumstances.

2 . I work full-time. Will my statutory leave entitlements be affected if I opt for a work life balance working arrangement that involves a reduction in my working hours?

The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 provides minimum legally enforceable entitlements for all employees to holidays and public holidays.

Annual Leave:
All employees, regardless of status or employment service, have an entitlement to paid holidays from their employer based on time worked.

The minimum holiday entitlement for an employee, who works at least 1,365 hours per year, is 4 working weeks.

If an employee works less than 1,365 hours per year, the entitlement to paid holidays is calculated at 8% of the hours worked, subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks.
Public Holidays:
Employees, other than part-time/casual employees, are entitled to public holiday benefits. There are nine 9 public holidays as follows:
1. Christmas Day,
2. St. Stephen's Day,
3. St. Patrick's Day,
4. Easter Monday,
5. First Monday in May,
6. First Monday in June
7. First Monday in August
8. Last Monday in October, and
9. 1st of January.
Part-time/casual employees must have worked 40 hours in the 5 weeks that end on the day before the particular public holiday, in order to qualify for that public holiday.
When an employee is entitled to public holiday benefit such an employee is entitled to whichever of the following that is determined by the employer:
1. a paid day off on that day
2. a paid day off within a month of that day
3. an additional day of annual leave
4. an additional day's pay.

More detailed information on holiday and public holiday entitlements may be obtained by contacting the Employment Rights Information Unit at Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Davitt House, 65A Adelaide Road, Dublin 2- telephone number (01) 631 3131 or if telephoning from outside the Dublin area, Lo call 1890 220222 and ask for extension number 3131. An explanatory booklet entitled "Information on Holidays and Public Holidays" is also available on request or may be accessed on the Department's website at www.entemp.ie under 'publications' (employment rights information).

3 . What are my entitlements under the Maternity Protection Act?
The Maternity Protection Act (1994) entitles a pregnant employee to eighteen consecutive weeks maternity leave for a woman going on leave after 8th March 2001 and fourteen weeks for anyone who went on maternity leave before then. If a woman takes maternity leave, she must take a minimum of four weeks leave before the last day of her expected week of confinement. She must also take a minimum of four weeks leave after the last day of her expected week of confinement. In addition to maternity leave and additional maternity leave, the Act also covers a range of issues including: Time off for ante-natal and postnatal medical visits The right to return to work All employees who have taken maternity leave are entitled to take an additional eight weeks of unpaid maternity leave (4 weeks for people taking maternity leave before 8th March 2001). This is also known as 'unpaid leave'. This leave must commence immediately after maternity leave has ended. In order to avail of additional maternity leave, a woman must notify her employer in writing a minimum of four weeks before the additional maternity leave is due to commence. Available from the Equality Authority is a brochure outlining entitlements under the Act - About the Maternity Protection Act, 1994. The full text of this brochure can be downloaded from the Equality Authority's website : click here . Alternatively you can contact the Equality Authority or email [email protected], write to the Equality Authority, Clonmel Street, Dublin 2 or by telephone on 01- 417 3333

4 . What are my entitlements under the Parental Leave Act 1998?
The Parental Leave Act, 1998 has two main purposes - (a) to provide for a new entitlement for men and women to avail of unpaid leave from employment to enable them to take care of their young children. (b) To provide for limited paid leave (force majeure leave) to enable employees to deal with family emergencies resulting from injury or illness of a family member. (The Act provides that employees are entitled to force majeure leave provided it does not exceed 3 days in any 12 consecutive months, or 5 days in any 36 consecutive months.) With effect from 19th July, 2000, each parent is entitled to 14 weeks parental leave for each child born or adopted on or after 3rd December 1993. If the child was born between 3rd December 1993 - 2nd June 1996, although they qualify for the leave, under the amendment, this leave must be taken before 31st December 2001. For children born after 3rd June 1996 parents are entitled to this leave up until that child reaches the age of 5. In general, the employee must have at least one year's continuous service with the employer before s/he is entitled to take parental leave. However, where the child is approaching the age threshold and the employee has more than three months but less than one year's service with the employer, s/he is entitled to pro rata parental leave. Each parent has a separate entitlement to parental leave from his or her job. The leave may not be transferred between parents - the father cannot take the mother's leave, and vice versa. For further information about the Parental Leave Act, a brochure outlining entitlements under the Act - About the Parental Leave Act, 1998 is available from the Equality Authority. The full text of this brochure can be downloaded from the Equality Authority's website : click here. Alternatively you can contact the Equality Authority by email [email protected] or write to the Equality Authority, Clonmel Street, Dublin 2 or by telephone on 01-417 3333

5 . What are my rights to Paternity Leave?
In Ireland, there are no legislative or statutory entitlements for fathers to paid Paternity Leave. Some companies may provide 1-3 days paid leave for fathers. Consult your employer or trade union for information in relation to any provision in your employment. Both parents are legally entitled to unpaid Parental Leave (see question on Parental Leave above).

6 . A member of my family is in need of full-time care and attention. I am an employee and may have to give up work to look after the person. I heard about carer's leave. Would this apply to my situation?
The Carer's Leave Act, 2001, came into operation on 2nd July, 2001. The main purpose of this Act is to provide for a new entitlement for an employee to avail of temporary unpaid leave from his/her employment to enable him/her to personally provide full-time care and attention for a person who is in need of such care. The employee who wishes to avail of Carer's Leave does not need to be related to be person to be cared for. The period of leave to which an employee is entitled is subject to a maximum of 65 weeks in respect of any one care recipient. The minimum statutory entitlement is 13 weeks. An employee who wishes to avail of Carer's Leave must fulfil certain conditions: The employee must have a minimum of 12 months continuous service (at date of commencement of the leave) with the employer from whose employment the employee proposes to take Carer's Leave. The person in respect of whom the employee proposes to provide full-time care and attention will require to be medically certified (by the Department of Social and Family Affairs) as requiring full-time care and attention. A decision to this effect must be given to the employer before the Carer's Leave commences. To apply for the decision, an employee should obtain Department of Social and Family Affairs Form CARB1 from Carer's Benefit Section of that Department and arrange for its completion and return to the afore-mentioned Carer's Benefit Section. This will need to be done irrespective of whether the employee will be applying for the associated Carer's Benefit Scheme payment or not. If the employee is also applying for Carer's Benefit payment, then the same medical assessment will apply for both Carer's Leave and Carer's Benefit. During the period of Carer's Leave the employee must provide the full-time care and attention to the person being cared for. However, the employee will be allowed engage in *limited employment or self-employment of not more than *10 hours per week. During the employee's absence in the above circumstances, adequate care for the relevant person must be arranged. *Subject to an upper income limit as set out in regulations made by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. For further information on the Carer's Leave Act and to download a copy of the Explanatory Booklet, please see the Dept of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's website - www.entemp.ie/carersact01.pdf or www.entemp.ie/carersmemorev.doc (this contains the main provisions of the act in word format) or contact the Employment Rights Information Unit of the Department at 01- 6313131 or, if telephoning from outside the Dublin area, Lo-call No. 1890 201615. Employees who wish to find out about the Carer's Benefit Scheme of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, should contact the Carer's Benefit Section of that Department in Longford at 043-40087. Please note that the Carer's Benefit Explanatory Booklet (SW 49) and application form are available on the Department of Social and Family Affairs website - www.welfare.ie/dept/booklets/sw49.htm.