Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, collective citation and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.

(2) The Parental Leave Acts 1998 to 2019 and Part 2 may be cited together as the Parental Leave Acts 1998 to 2023.

(3) This Act, other than Parts 3 and 4 and sections 40 and 41, shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(4) Part 3 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(5) Part 4 and section 40 shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in consultation with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

PART 2 Amendment of Parental Leave Act 1998

2. Definition - Part 2

2. In this Part, “Principal Act” means the Parental Leave Act 1998.

3. Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act

3. The Principal Act is amended in section 2—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the insertion of the following definitions:

“‘Act of 2015’ means the Workplace Relations Act 2015;

‘adopting parent’ means a qualifying adopter or a surviving parent within the meaning of the definitions of ‘qualifying adopter’ and ‘surviving parent’ in section 2(1) of the Adoptive Leave Act 1995 but as if, in both of those definitions, ‘or is to be placed’ were omitted in each place where it occurs;

‘adoptive parent’, in relation to a child, means a person in whose favour an adoption order in respect of the child has been made and is in force;

‘approved flexible working arrangement’ means a flexible working arrangement, the request for which has been approved under section 13C(1)(b)(i);

‘civil partner’ shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010;

‘code of practice’ means any code of practice for the time being standing approved in accordance with Part 4 of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023;

‘cohabitant’ shall be construed in accordance with section 172(1) of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010;

‘continuous employment’ includes employment completed by an employee under two or more continuous fixed-term contracts with the same employer;

‘flexible working arrangement’ means a working arrangement where an employee’s working hours or patterns are adjusted, including through the use of remote working arrangements, flexible working schedules or reduced working hours;

‘household’ means a person who lives alone or 2 or more persons who live together;

‘relevant parent’, in relation to a child, means a person who is—

(a) the parent, the adoptive parent or the adopting parent in respect of the child, or

(b) acting in loco parentis to the child;

‘request for a flexible working arrangement’ means a request referred to under section 13B(1);”,

(ii) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “employee”:

“‘employee’ means a person of any age who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment and includes a part-time employee and a fixed-term employee, and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be construed as references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the purposes of this Act, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces or a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956) shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the head (within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act 2014), of the public body (within the meaning aforesaid) in which he or she is employed and an officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014), or of a harbour authority, the Health Service Executive or a member of staff of an education and training board shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority, Executive or board, as the case may be;”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(3A) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be considered to be in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason where, owing to the person’s disability, injury or illness, he or she requires such care or support that includes the presence of the employee at the place where the person is.”,

and

(c) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(4) A word or expression used in this Act and also in Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019[^2] shall have the same meaning in this Act as in that Directive.”.

4. Amendment of section 6 of Principal Act

4. Section 6 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(3A) For the purposes of this section, where an employee ceases to be the employee of an employer and, not more than 26 weeks after the date of cesser, the employee again becomes the employee of the employer, the period of service of that employee with that employer before the date of cesser shall be deemed to be continuous with the period of service of that employee with that employer after again becoming such employee.”,

and

(b) in subsection (9), by the deletion of the following definitions:

(i) “adopting parent”;

(ii) “adoptive parent”;

(iii) “continuous employment”;

(iv) “relevant parent”.

5. Amendment of section 10 of Principal Act

5. Section 10 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (2)(b), by the substitution of—

(i) “ill or incapacitated” for “sick”, in each place that it occurs, and

(ii) “illness or incapacity” for “sickness”,

and

(b) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “illness or incapacity” for “sickness”, in each place that it occurs.

6. Leave for medical care purposes

6. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section:

“13A. (1) An employee shall be entitled to leave without pay from his or her employment, to be known and referred to in this Act as leave for medical care purposes, for the purposes of providing personal care or support to a person to whom this subsection applies.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to a person who—

(a) is one of the following:

(i) a person of whom the employee is the relevant parent;

(ii) the spouse or civil partner of the employee;

(iii) the cohabitant of the employee;

(iv) a parent or grandparent of the employee;

(v) a brother or sister of the employee;

(vi) a person, other than one specified in any of subparagraphs (i) to (v), who resides in the same household as the employee,

and

(b) is in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason.

(3) Leave for medical care purposes shall consist of one or more days on which, but for the leave, the employee would be working in the employment concerned but shall not exceed 5 days in any period of 12 consecutive months and shall not be taken in a period of less than one day.

(4) A day on which an employee is absent from work on leave for medical care purposes in an employment for part only of the period during which he or she is required to work in the employment on that day shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (3), to be one day of leave for medical care purposes.

(5) When an employee takes or intends to take leave under this section, he or she shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, confirm in the prescribed form given to his or her employer, that he or she has taken or intends to take, as the case may be, such leave.

(6) A confirmation under subsection (5) shall—

(a) specify the date of commencement of the leave for medical care purposes and its duration,

(b) contain a statement of the facts entitling the employee to the leave, and

(c) be signed by the employee concerned.

(7) On receipt of a confirmation under subsection (5), an employer shall retain the confirmation and shall provide the employee with a written acknowledgment of the receipt of the confirmation, which shall be retained by the employee.

(8) An employee who has given a confirmation to his or her employer under subsection (5) shall, if the employer so requests, furnish to the employer such information as the employer may reasonably require in relation to—

(a) the employee’s relationship with the person in respect of whom the leave for medical care purposes is proposed to be taken or was taken, as the case may be,

(b) the nature of the personal care or support required to be given by the employee to the person concerned, and

(c) relevant evidence relating to the need of the person for the significant care or support concerned.

(9) In subsection (8)(c), ‘relevant evidence’, in relation to the person for whom the care or support is or is proposed to be provided, means—

(a) a medical certificate—

(i) stating that the person named in the certificate is (or where the leave has already been taken) was in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason, and

(ii) signed by a registered medical practitioner within the meaning of section 2 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007,

or

(b) if the employee does not have a medical certificate referred to in paragraph (a), such evidence as the employer concerned may reasonably require in order to show that the person concerned is or was in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason.”.

7. Domestic violence leave

7. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section:

“13AA. (1) An employee shall be entitled to leave with pay from his or her employment, to be known and referred to in this Act as ‘domestic violence leave’, where—

(a) the employee or a relevant person has experienced in the past, or is currently experiencing, domestic violence, and

(b) the purpose of the leave is to enable the employee, in relation to the domestic violence experienced by him or her or, as the case may be, the relevant person, to do, or to assist the relevant person in the doing of, any of the following:

(i) seek medical attention;

(ii) obtain services from a victim services organisation;

(iii) obtain psychological or other professional counselling;

(iv) relocate temporarily or permanently;

(v) obtain an order under the Domestic Violence Act 2018;

(vi) seek advice or assistance from a legal practitioner;

(vii) seek assistance from the Garda Síochána;

(viii) seek or obtain any other relevant services.

(2) When an employee takes domestic violence leave, he or she shall, as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter, by notice in the prescribed form given to his or her employer, confirm that he or she has taken such leave and the notice shall specify the dates on which it was taken.

(3) Domestic violence leave shall consist of one or more days on which, but for the leave, the employee would be working in the employment concerned but shall not exceed 5 days in any period of 12 consecutive months.

(4) A day on which an employee is absent from work on domestic violence leave in an employment for part only of the period during which he or she is required to work in the employment on that day shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (3), to be one day of domestic violence leave.

(5) An employer shall pay an employee a prescribed daily rate of pay (in this section referred to as ‘domestic violence leave pay’) for each day on which the employee is absent from work on domestic violence leave.

(6) Subject to subsection (7), the Minister may make regulations for the purpose of prescribing the daily rate of domestic violence leave pay which may—

(a) specify the percentage rate of an employee’s pay, up to a maximum daily amount, at which domestic violence leave pay will be paid,

(b) subject to the maximum daily amount specified in accordance with paragraph (a), specify an allowance in respect of board and lodgings, board only or lodgings only in a case in which such board or lodgings constitute part of the employee’s remuneration calculated at the prescribed rate, or

(c) subject to the maximum daily amount specified in accordance with paragraph (a), specify basic pay and any pay in excess of basic pay in respect of shift work, piece work, unsocial hours worked or hours worked on a Sunday, allowances, emoluments, premium pay (or its equivalent), or any other payment as the Minister considers appropriate, that are to be taken into account in the calculation of domestic violence leave pay.

(7) In making regulations under subsection (6), the Minister shall have regard to the following matters:

(a) the state of society generally, the public interest and employee well being;

(b) the potential impact, including the potential for any disproportionate or other adverse impact, that the rate of domestic violence leave pay to be prescribed will have on the economy generally, specific sectors of the economy, employers or employees;

(c) annual and quarterly data on earnings and labour costs as published by the Central Statistics Office;

(d) expert opinion, including that of victim services organisations, research and national and international reports relating to the matters specified at paragraphs (a) to (c) that the Minister considers relevant;

(e) the views of employer representative bodies and trade unions;

(f) such other matters as the Minister considers relevant.

(8) In this section—

‘dependent person’, in relation to a person, means any child of the person, or in respect of whom the person is in loco parentis, who is not of full age, or, if the child has attained full age, is suffering from a mental or physical disability to such an extent that it is not reasonably possible for him or her to live independently of the employee or relevant person;

‘domestic violence’ means violence, or threat of violence, including sexual violence and acts of coercive control committed against an employee or a relevant person by another person who—

(a) is the spouse or civil partner of the employee or relevant person,

(b) is the cohabitant of the employee or relevant person,

(c) is or was in an intimate relationship with the employee or relevant person, or

(d) is a child of the employee or relevant person who is of full age and is not, in relation to the employee or relevant person, a dependent person;

‘relevant person’ means, in relation to an employee—

(a) the spouse or civil partner of the employee,

(b) the cohabitant of the employee,

(c) a person with whom the employee is in an intimate relationship,

(d) a child of the employee who has not attained full age, or

(e) a person who, in relation to the employee, is a dependent person;

‘spouse’ has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the Domestic Violence Act 2018.”.

8. Insertion of new Part IIA in Principal Act

8. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following Part after Part II:

“PART IIA

Requests for flexible working arrangements for caring purposes

Right to request a flexible working arrangement for caring purposes

13B. (1) The following may request a flexible working arrangement:

(a) an employee who is a relevant parent of a child and who is or will be providing care to that child for the purpose of providing care to that child;

(b) an employee who is or will be providing personal care or support to a person to whom this paragraph applies for the purpose of providing such care or support to that person.

(2) Subsection (1)(b) applies to a person who—

(a) is one of the following:

(i) a person of whom the employee is the relevant parent;

(ii) the spouse or civil partner of the employee;

(iii) the cohabitant of the employee;

(iv) a parent or grandparent of the employee;

(v) a brother or sister of the employee;

(vi) a person, other than one specified in any of subparagraphs (i) to (v), who resides in the same household as the employee,

and

(b) is in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason.

(3) A flexible working arrangement for the care of a child referred to in subsection (1)(a) shall end—

(a) subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), not later than the day on which the child concerned has attained the age of 12 years,

(b) subject to paragraph (c), in the case of a child who—

(i) is the subject of an adoption order, and

(ii) has, on or before the date of the making of that order, attained the age of 10 years but not 12 years,

not later than the expiration of the period of 2 years beginning on that date, or

(c) if the child concerned has a disability or a long-term illness, as defined in section 6(9), not later than the date on which the child—

(i) attains the age of 16 years, or

(ii) ceases to have that disability or long-term illness or any other disability or long-term illness,

whichever first occurs.

(4) An employee’s approved flexible working arrangement shall not commence before a time when the employee concerned has completed 6 months continuous employment with the employer concerned.

(5) For the purposes of this section, where an employee ceases to be the employee of an employer and, not more than 26 weeks after the date of cesser, the employee again becomes the employee of the employer, the period of service of that employee with that employer before the date of cesser shall be deemed to be continuous with the period of service of that employee with that employer after again becoming such employee.

(6) A request for a flexible working arrangement referred to in subsection (1) shall—

(a) be in writing and signed by the employee,

(b) specify the form of the flexible working arrangement requested and the date of commencement and duration of the flexible working arrangement, and

(c) be submitted to his or her employer as soon as reasonably practicable but not later than 8 weeks before the proposed commencement of the flexible working arrangement.