merrion street

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter TD today announced Government approval for the drafting of a Family Leave Bill. The Bill will transpose the EU Parental Leave Directive and will also consolidate all family leave legislation into one accessible Act.

EU Council Directive 2010/18/EU of 8 March 2010 implements a revised Framework Agreement on parental leave concluded by the European social partners (BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP and ETUC). The Directive must be transposed by 8 March 2013.

Speaking today, Minister Shatter said "The Directive increases the amount of parental leave available to each parent per child from 14 weeks to 18 weeks. This change has a positive impact on parents, for women in particular, facilitating their participation in the labour force and in protecting their right to resume employment after parental leave. The Directive also provides for a parent on returning to work from a period of parental leave to request a change in his or her work pattern. The employer is required to consider this request, but is not obliged to grant the request.

"The opportunity will also be taken to consolidate all the family leave legislation (maternity, parental, adoptive and carer’s leave) into one Bill. Responsibility for Carer’s Leave is being transferred from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to the Department of Justice and Equality in the context of this statute law consolidation exercise."

This is a significant statute law revision project. The subject matter is of interest to all employees, employers, their representatives, members of the legal profession and agencies dealing with employment-related complaints.

The consolidation will involve examination of possible discrepancies and anomalies between the various Acts with a view to making the code more accessible and streamlined. This will be a significant statue law consolidation and revision project.