Parental Leave V's 3 day week

Fairie

Hello Lady! wrote: »

It's 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave which, on a 5 day working week is 80 days. If you took 1 day per week it would be 80 weeks not 90.

I meant parental leave which calculated on a 5 day week would be 18 weeks x 5 days per week which is 90 days!! Well that's what my employer told me I'm entitled to
I saw further down you mention about breaking up unpaid maternity leave from what I've seen on department of finance website it states unpaid maternity leave is up to 16 consecutive weeks. Sorry on phone won't let me attach a link to it. And taking of parental leave while it is a statutory right the time/pattern this leave is taken is at the discretion of your employer but both parties must agree on it

Hello Lady!

There is nothing in employment law to prevent you from taking your additional maternity broken up but as with parental leave it has to be agreed by both parties. I know this because I am the first person in almost 8 years to go on maternity leave in my workplace. I advised my employer that I might take the extra weeks, but it would come down to finances (I get paid for the 26 weeks but we would struggle financially if I were to take the extra unpaid 4 months). It was my manager who suggested taking my 16 weeks broken up - it means they don't have to hire extra staff at full pay for that period, they get me back and at a reduced rate. My replacement won't be doing the full range of my duties anyway so they are eager to get me back, even on a short week. We contacted NERA and the company solicitor to see if this was permitted and both said that as long as both employee and employers agree, and that the employer is not basically pressuring the staff member to return, or using it as a way of preventing the woman from taking maternity leave there is no issue. To make sure everything is above board I put the request in writing and it was approved in writing and checked by the solicitor.

Since doing it I have heard of a few other people who have also done it.

It suits me because it means I still have my 18 weeks parental leave for each of my twins if I need it at a later date.

Ginny

I'd really make sure about that, I work in PS and no one here is allowed take broken up unpaid maternity leave. If it was possible someone would have managed it here. On the citizen advice page it states it must be taken straight after the 26 weeks paid leave. Just double check someone in your HR isn't saying unpaid maternity and actually using your parental leave.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/maternity_benefit.html

lazygal

Ginny wrote: »

I'd really make sure about that, I work in PS and no one here is allowed take broken up unpaid maternity leave. If it was possible someone would have managed it here. On the citizen advice page it states it must be taken straight after the 26 weeks paid leave. Just double check someone in your HR isn't saying unpaid maternity and actually using your parental leave.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/maternity_benefit.html

Same here. I don't know.anyone who's broken unpaid maternity leave like that in any job. Parental leave yes, but never maternity leave.

Hello Lady!

Ginny wrote: »

I'd really make sure about that, I work in PS and no one here is allowed take broken up unpaid maternity leave. If it was possible someone would have managed it here. On the citizen advice page it states it must be taken straight after the 26 weeks paid leave. Just double check someone in your HR isn't saying unpaid maternity and actually using your parental leave.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/maternity_benefit.html

No need to double check, it's definitely maternity leave and it is being taken straight after the paid leave, just spread out. I have the agreement in writing and signed by both me and our MD. As I say, I have since spoken to 3 other women who did the same in different companies. It's at the discretion of the employer. The main thing is to ensure that it is not being used as a way to prevent the staff member from exercising their right to maternity at 16 weeks continuous leave. As long as it is clear this is not the case there is no issue.

Hello Lady!

Ginny wrote: »

I'd really make sure about that, I work in PS and no one here is allowed take broken up unpaid maternity leave. If it was possible someone would have managed it here. On the citizen advice page it states it must be taken straight after the 26 weeks paid leave. Just double check someone in your HR isn't saying unpaid maternity and actually using your parental leave.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/maternity_benefit.html

No need to double check, it's definitely maternity leave and guys being taken straight after the paid leave, just spread out. I have the agreement in writing and signed by both me and our MD. As I say, I have since spoken to 3 other women who did the same in different companies. It's at the discretion of the employer. The main thing is to ensure that it is not being used as a way to prevent the staff member from exercising their right to maternity at 16 weeks continuous leave. As long as it is clear this is not the case there is no issue.

Fairie

Hello Lady! wrote: »

There is nothing in employment law to prevent you from taking your additional maternity broken up but as with parental leave it has to be agreed by both parties. I know this because I am the first person in almost 8 years to go on maternity leave in my workplace. I advised my employer that I might take the extra weeks, but it would come down to finances (I get paid for the 26 weeks but we would struggle financially if I were to take the extra unpaid 4 months). It was my manager who suggested taking my 16 weeks broken up - it means they don't have to hire extra staff at full pay for that period, they get me back and at a reduced rate. My replacement won't be doing the full range of my duties anyway so they are eager to get me back, even on a short week. We contacted NERA and the company solicitor to see if this was permitted and both said that as long as both employee and employers agree, and that the employer is not basically pressuring the staff member to return, or using it as a way of preventing the woman from taking maternity leave there is no issue. To make sure everything is above board I put the request in writing and it was approved in writing and checked by the solicitor.

Since doing it I have heard of a few other people who have also done it.

It suits me because it means I still have my 18 weeks parental leave for each of my twins if I need it at a later date.

Maybe it is at the discretion of employer. It's only from what I read on finance website and my own experience with unpaid maternity was that I had to apply for it at least one month before my 26 paid weeks were up and it had to be taken consecutively and immediately after the paid leave was up. I don't know the ins and outs of it but I work in a pensions so I have come across all maternity and parental type paid and unpaid leave and I've never come across any client who had broken unpaid maternity leave. However if it is an option I would be very interested in learning more!

DavyD_83

My wife is due back in work in June after birth of our 1st child. From reading up on Parental leave it look slike it is a good option that would allow her to move to a 4 day working week for as long as the days off allow (18 weeks = 90 days; hopefully 1 day off a week for approx 2 years). When discussing return dates with HR recently, my wife asked about the possibilty and response seemed to be fairly positive.
But she was told that she would need to submit a proposal outlining the request.
Would anybody know what exactly should be included in such a proposal, and if there would be any examples or guidlines available online (or elsewhere)?
Thanks
Dave

Sligo1

DavyD_83 wrote: »

My wife is due back in work in June after birth of our 1st child. From reading up on Parental leave it look slike it is a good option that would allow her to move to a 4 day working week for as long as the days off allow (18 weeks = 90 days; hopefully 1 day off a week for approx 2 years). When discussing return dates with HR recently, my wife asked about the possibilty and response seemed to be fairly positive.
But she was told that she would need to submit a proposal outlining the request.
Would anybody know what exactly should be included in such a proposal, and if there would be any examples or guidlines available online (or elsewhere)?
Thanks
Dave

Do they not have a parental leave request form outlining all the details she needs to fill in and submit? In our work to just full in the details and wait for a reply from the manager/hr.

Ginny

They should have a blanket form, I've used Mondays and because of bank holidays and annual leave I'll get just under 2 years out of it.

DavyD_83

Ginny wrote: »

They should have a blanket form, I've used Mondays and because of bank holidays and annual leave I'll get just under 2 years out of it.

Thanks, yep above is the exactly the plan. They don't seem to have any form of this type. Small enough company, with one person for HR. Impression I get is that they may not have dealt with this specific type of request before

RentDayBlues

Hello Lady! wrote: »

No need to double check, it's definitely maternity leave and it is being taken straight after the paid leave, just spread out. I have the agreement in writing and signed by both me and our MD. As I say, I have since spoken to 3 other women who did the same in different companies. It's at the discretion of the employer. The main thing is to ensure that it is not being used as a way to prevent the staff member from exercising their right to maternity at 16 weeks continuous leave. As long as it is clear this is not the case there is no issue.

While your employer may be happy for you to take your unpaid maternity leave like, I would check with social welfare and revenue about this. The maternity act 1994 states that it must be take it consecutive weeks in one block, not spread as you can with parental leave.

The worse thing would be for you to have your employer say it's fine and then for welfare/revenue to say no! It's one of the reasons you need to make a submission to welfare after you finish your unpaid maternity leave to confirm the dates so you can have your prsi contributions updated to reflect this.

Sligo1

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Thanks, yep above is the exactly the plan. They don't seem to have any form of this type. Small enough company, with one person for HR. Impression I get is that they may not have dealt with this specific type of request before

Ok well if there's no specific form, the things I would include would be. Name, address, contact and pps number. Put in your parental leave entitlement, how much of the parental leave you wish to take (eg, the full 18 weeks or just 4 weeks etc) and the way in which you want to take it (ie. 1 day or 8 hours per week etc). Also put in the date you want to commence this leave and the date it will be concluded or all used up. You may need to include the birth date and name of your child for their records. As if you have more than one child you will be entitled to higher accrual of parental leave. Example. If I have 3 children I would be entitled to 3 x 18 weeks (18 weeks per child) before the child turns 8. So they would need to know which child you are taking the parental leave for.

Hope that helps