LegalizeMaternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004
1 Interpretation.
1.—(1) In this Act—
“Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;
“Principal Act” means the Maternity Protection Act 1994.
(2) A reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any other enactment including this Act.
2 Entitlement to maternity leave.
2.—The Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 8:
“8.—(1) Subject to this Part, a pregnant employee shall be entitled to leave, to be known (and referred to in this Act) as ‘maternity leave’, from her employment for a period (in this Part referred to as ‘the minimum period of maternity leave’ of not less than—
(a) 18 consecutive weeks, or
(b) 18 weeks part of which is postponed in accordance with section 14B,
as may be appropriate.
(2) The Minister may by order, made with the consent of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs and the consent of the Minister for Finance, amend subsection (1) and section 13(2) so as to extend the period mentioned in each of those subsections.”.
3 Amendment of section 10(1) of Principal Act.
3.—Section 10(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of “not later than two weeks before the end of the expected week of confinement” for “not later than four weeks before the end of the expected week of confinement”.
4 Amendment of section 13 of Principal Act.
4.—Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):
“(2) Notwithstanding section 10(1), but subject to regulations under section 11, the minimum period of maternity leave for an employee referred to in subsection (1) shall be a period of not less than—
(a) 18 consecutive weeks, or
(b) 18 weeks part of which is postponed in accordance with section 14B,
as may be appropriate, commencing on whichever of the following is the earlier—
(i) the first day of maternity leave taken in accordance with section 10, or
(ii) the date of confinement.”.
5 Amendment of section 14 of Principal Act.
5.—Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):
“(1) An employee who has taken maternity leave shall, if she so wishes, be entitled in accordance with this section to further leave from her employment, to be known (and referred to in this Act) as ‘additional maternity leave’, for a maximum period of—
(a) 8 consecutive weeks commencing immediately after the end of her maternity leave, or
(b) 8 weeks, all or part of which is postponed in accordance with section 14B, commencing either in accordance with that section or immediately after the end of her maternity leave,
as may be appropriate.”,
(b) in subsection (3), by the substitution of “Subject to section 14B, entitlement to additional maternity leave” for “Entitlement to additional maternity leave”, and
(c) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (6):
“(6) The Minister may by order amend subsection (1) so as to extend the period mentioned in that subsection.”.
6 Termination of additional maternity leave in event of sickness of mother.
6.—The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 14:
| “Termination of additional maternity leave in event of sickness of mother. | 14A.—(1) If, at any time— (a) during the last 4 weeks of maternity leave whether or not part of such leave is postponed under section 14B and where, in accordance with section 14(4), an employee has, or is deemed under section 14B(3) to have, notified her employer, or caused her employer to be notified, of her intention to take additional maternity leave, or (b) during the additional maternity leave whether or not such leave or part of it is postponed under section 14B, an employee who is sick wishes to terminate the additional maternity leave, she may request in writing (or cause a written request to be submitted to) her employer to terminate the additional maternity leave. (2) An employer who receives a request under subsection (1) may agree to terminate the additional maternity leave of the employee concerned and, if the employer does so, the additional maternity leave shall terminate on a date agreed by the employee and the employer that is not earlier than the date of the commencement of the employee's sickness and not later than the date on which the additional maternity leave would have ended in accordance with the notification given by the employee to the employer under section 14(4) or 14B(8), as the case may be. (3) An employer who receives a request under subsection (1) shall notify the employee concerned in writing of the employer's decision in relation to the request as soon as reasonably practicable following the receipt of it. (4) Where the additional maternity leave of an employee is terminated under this section— (a) the absence from work of the employee due to sickness following such termination shall be treated in the same manner as any absence from work of the employee due to sickness, and (b) the employee shall not be entitled to the additional maternity leave or the part of it not taken by her at the date of such termination.”. |
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7 Postponement of maternity leave or additional maternity leave in event of hospitalisation of child.
7.—The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 14A (inserted by section 6 of this Act):
| “Postponement of maternity leave or additional maternity leave in event of hospitalisation of child. | 14B.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), an employee who is on maternity leave or is entitled to, or is on, additional maternity leave may, if the child in connection with whose birth she is on, or is entitled to, that leave (in this section referred to as ‘the child’) is hospitalised, request in writing (or cause a written request to be submitted to) her employer to postpone— (a) part of the maternity leave, (b) part of the maternity leave and the additional maternity leave, or (c) the additional maternity leave or part of it. as may be appropriate, in accordance with this section. (2) An employee may make a request under paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) to postpone part of her maternity leave with effect from a date she selects only if the period of maternity leave taken by her on that date is not less than 14 weeks and not less than 4 of those weeks are after the end of the week of confinement. (3) Notwithstanding the fact that an employee who is on maternity leave has not in accordance with section 14(4) notified her employer in writing (or caused her employer to be so notified) of her intention to take additional maternity leave, she shall be deemed, for the purposes of making a request under paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (1), to have complied with section 14(4). (4) An employer who receives a request under subsection (1) may agree to postpone the leave concerned and, if the employer does so— (a) the employee concerned shall return to work on a date agreed by her and the employer that is not later than the date on which the leave concerned is due to end in accordance with the notification given, or deemed under subsection (3) to have been given, by the employee to the employer under section 9 or 14, as the case may be, (b) the leave concerned shall be postponed with effect from the date agreed under paragraph (a), and (c) the employee concerned shall be entitled to— (i) the part of the maternity leave, (ii) the part of the maternity leave and the additional maternity leave, or (iii) the additional maternity leave or the part of it, as the case may be, not taken by her by reason of the postponement (in this section referred to as ‘resumed leave’) in accordance with regulations made under this section by the Minister to be taken in one continuous period commencing not later than 7 days after the discharge of the child from hospital. (5) An employer who receives a request under subsection (1) shall notify the employee concerned in writing of the employer's decision in relation to the request as soon as reasonably practicable following the receipt of it. (6) Where, following the postponement of leave under this section, an employee returns to work in accordance with subsection (4)(a) and during the period of the postponement she is absent from work due to sickness, the employee shall be deemed to commence resumed leave on the first day of such absence unless she notifies her employer in writing (or causes her employer to be so notified) as soon as reasonably practicable that she does not wish to commence such leave and, following such notification— (a) the absence from work of the employee due to sickness shall be treated in the same manner as any absence from work of the employee due to sickness, and (b) the employee shall not be entitled to the resumed leave. (7) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4), regulations under this section may make provision in relation to either or both of the following matters: (a) the maximum period of postponement of leave under this section, and (b) the evidence to be furnished by an employee to her employer of the hospitalisation, and the discharge from hospital, of the child. (8) Entitlement to resumed leave shall, subject to subsection (10), be subject to an employee having notified her employer in writing (or caused her employer to be so notified) as soon as reasonably practiable but not later than the day on which the leave begins of her intention to commence such leave. (9) A notification under subsection (8) may be revoked by a further notification in writing given by or on behalf of the employee concerned to her employer within the period specified in that subsection for the giving of the notification concerned. (10) An employer may, at the discretion of the employer, waive the right to receive a notification in accordance with subsection (8). (11) Where an employee's leave is postponed under this section— (a) subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), the employee shall comply with subsection (1A), in lieu of subsection (1), of section 28, (b) the employee shall not, in relation to returning to work under subsection (4)(a), be required to comply with section 28, and (c) the employee shall, if deemed under subsection (6) to be on resumed leave, comply with subsection (1B), in lieu of subsection (1) or (1A), of section 28.”. |
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8 Entitlement to time off from work to attend ante-natal classes.
8.—The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 15:
| “Entitlement to time off from work to attend ante-natal classes. | 15A.—(1) Subject to subsection (3), a pregnant employee shall be entitled to time off from her work, without loss of pay, in accordance with regulations made under this section by the Minister, for the purpose of attending one set of ante-natal classes (other than the last 3 classes in such a set) and those classes may be attended by her during one or more pregnancies. (2) Subject to subsection (3), an expectant father of a child (if he is employed under a contract of employment) shall be entitled once only to time off from his work, without loss of pay, in accordance with regulations made under this section by the Minister, for the purpose of attending the last 2 ante-natal classes in a set of such classes attended by the expectant mother of their child before the birth of the child. (3) Subsection (1) or (2) shall not apply— (a) to a member of the Defence Forces who is— (i) on active service within the meaning of section 5 of the Defence Act 1954 or deemed to be on active service within the meaning of section 4(1) of the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1960, (ii) engaged in operational duties at sea, (iii) engaged in operations in aid of the civil power, (iv) engaged in training that is directly associated with any of the activities referred to in subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph, or (v) engaged in any other duty outside the State, (b) if the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces in exceptional circumstances so directs, to a member of the Defence Forces who is required to perform a duty which is, in the opinion of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, of a special or urgent nature for so long as the member is performing the duty, (c) to a member of the Garda Síochána who is on the direction, or with the consent, of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána serving outside the State performing duties of a police character or advising others on, or monitoring them in, the performance of such duties or any related duties for so long as the member is so serving, and (d) if the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána in exceptional circumstances so directs, to a member of the Garda Síochána who is required to perform a duty which is, in the opinion of the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, of a special or urgent nature for so long as the member is performing the duty. (4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1) and (2), regulations under this section may make provision in relation to all or any of the following matters: (a) the amount of time off to be allowed for attendance at ante-natal classes; (b) the terms or conditions relating to such time off; (c) the notice to be given in advance by a pregnant employee or an expectant father entitled to time off under this section to her or his employer; (d) the evidence to be furnished by a pregnant employee or an expectant father so entitled to her or his employer of ante-natal classes that she or he is to attend.”. |
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9 Entitlement to time off from work or reduction of working hours for breastfeeding.
9.—The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 15A (inserted by section 8 of this Act):
| “Entitlement to time off from work or reduction of working hours for breastfeeding. | 15B.—(1) An employee who is breastfeeding shall be entitled, without loss of pay, at the option of her employer to either— (a) time off from her work for the purpose of breastfeeding in the workplace in accordance with regulations made under this section by the Minister where facilities for breastfeeding are provided in the workplace by her employer, or (b) a reduction of her working hours in accordance with regulations made under this section by the Minister for the purpose of breastfeeding otherwise than in the workplace. (2) An employer shall not be required to provide facilities for breastfeeding in the workplace if the provision of such facilities would give rise to a cost, other than a nominal cost, to the employer. (3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under this section may make provision in relation to all or any of the following matters: (a) the amount of time off and the number and frequency of breastfeeding breaks to which an employee is entitled under paragraph (a) of that subsection; (b) the reduction of working hours to which an employee is entitled under paragraph (b) of that subsection; (c) the terms or conditions relating to time off under paragraph (a), or to a reduction of working hours under paragraph (b), of that subsection; (d) the notice to be given in advance by an employee to her employer in relation to the proposed exercise by her of her entitlement under this section: (e) the evidence to be furnished by such an employee to her employer in relation to the date of confinement. (4) If an employee who has exercised her entitlement under subsection (1) ceases to breastfeed, she shall, at the earliest practical time, notify her employer in writing that she has so ceased. (5) In this section ‘breastfeeding’ means breastfeeding a child or expressing breast milk and feeding it to a child immediately or storing it for the purpose of feeding it to the child at a later time.”. |
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10 Amendment of section 16 of Principal Act.
10.—Section 16 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):
“(1) If a woman who has been delivered of a living child (in this section referred to as ‘the mother’) dies at any time before the expiry of the twenty-fourth week following the week of her confinement, the father of the child (if he is employed under a contract of employment) shall be entitled in accordance with this section to leave from his employment for a period ending as follows—
(a) if the mother dies before the expiry of the sixteenth week following the week of her confinement, the period ends, subject to section 16B, at the end of that sixteenth week, and
(b) if the mother dies at any time after the expiry of that sixteenth week, the period ends, subject to sections 16A and 16B, at the end of the twenty-fourth week following the week of her confinement.”,
(b) by the substitution of the following subsections for subsections (3) and (4):
“(3) Subject to section 16B, the period of leave under subsection (1) shall commence within 7 days of the mother's death; and in this section and sections 16A and 16B—
(a) a period of leave which ends as mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) is referred to as ‘subsection (1)(a) leave’, and
(b) a period of leave which ends as mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection is referred to as ‘subsection (1)(b) leave’.
(4) A father who has taken subsection (1)(a) leave shall, if he so wishes, be entitled to further leave from his employment for a maximum period of—
(a) 8 consecutive weeks commencing immediately after the end of his subsection (1)(a) leave, or
(b) 8 weeks, all or part of which is postponed in accordance with section 16B, commencing either in accordance with that section or immediately after the end of his subsection (1)(a) leave,
as may be appropriate.”,
and
(c) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “Subject to section 16B, entitlement to further leave under subsection (4)” for “Entitlement to further leave under subsection (4)”.
11 Termination of leave in event of sickness of father.
11.—The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 16:
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