Parental Leave 

 Circular 13/2010:  Amendment to Parental Leave Arrangements (age), Parental Leave (as amended by Circulars 39/02 Amendments to Parental Leave Entitlement (age & disability), Circular 20/08: Parental Leave in the Civil Service, set out the provisions for Parental Leave.  Parental Leave, which is a statutory entitlement (Parental Leave Act 1998 and Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2006), allows the parent of a child, born or adopted on or after 3 December 1993, to take unpaid leave for fourteen working weeks for the purpose of caring for his/her child.  Those who are in loco parentis may also be entitled to avail of Parental Leave – a definition of those that may come under this provision is provided in the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2006.  Parental Leave must be taken before the child is thirteen years of age (sixteen in the case of a child with a disability).

Parental Leave is available to Civil Service staff who have one year’s continuous service, but it will also be allowed, on a reduced basis, to staff who have more than three months but less than twelve months continuous service.

Parental Leave may be taken as one continuous period of fourteen weeks, or as shorter periods together amounting to fourteen weeks. This entitlement is reduced pro-rata in cases where the parent is availing of worksharing arrangements.

Parental Leave entitlements may be transferred from one parent to another if both parents are employed by the same employer (the Civil Service is deemed a single employer for this purpose), subject to the employer’s agreement.

An officer who falls ill while on parental leave and as a result is unable to care for the child, e.g. hospitalisation, may suspend the parental leave for the duration of the illness following which period the parental leave recommences.

While the Parental Leave Act does not confer an entitlement to remuneration and superannuation benefits, an officer on parental leave is deemed to be in employment.  The absence will therefore count as service for promotion, increment and annual leave.

 FAQs on the subject of Parental Leave can be found here