Pregnancy in the workplace: What employers need to know

The Maternity Protection Act 1994 to 2004 states that employees qualify for maternity leave including casual workers. Employees do not need to have completed a specific length of service to qualify. Contractors do not qualify for maternity leave.

The current entitlement under the statutory scheme is that an employee can avail of 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and 16 weeks of unpaid additional maternity leave. During the 26 weeks of maternity leave, 2 of these must be taken before the baby’s expected birth date and 4 weeks must be taken after the baby’s birth.

Pregnancy in the workplace
Once the pregnancy is confirmed in writing including details of anticipated due date and any relevant medical details, employers must allow employees to take reasonable time off to attend medical visits related to that pregnancy. Employees are required to give 2 weeks written notice in advance of each appointment and an employer can request to see the appointment card. There is no cap on the number of appointments that may be available or the extent to which an employee can take paid time off in relation to these appointments. Employees can take paid time off to attend one set of antenatal classes.

Fixed term employees are entitled to avail of the full statutory entitlement of maternity leave. If the contract of employment date of termination falls within the 26-week window, it is extended until the end of the 26 weeks.

Maternity benefit is not a break of service so employees accrue public holidays, annual leave etc. as well as being entitled to their full suite of rights as they would be if they were working normally.

Maternity leave can start automatically either if the employee is absent from work wholly or partly because of their pregnancy at any time from the beginning of the four weeks before the start of their expected week of childbirth or when the employee has given birth naturally at that before maternity leave kicks in.

The maternity rate benefit as it stands is €262 per week for 26 weeks. It is the duty of the employer to inform the employee when their maternity leave will come to an end. If the employer receives notice that the employee seeks to avail of the additional 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, they would need to furnish the employee with the new end date and this notice is to be sent to the employee in writing within 28 days of receiving the initial notification. Employers are required to sign the MB 2 certificate as this is essential for the employee to avail of maternity benefits and return it to the employee.

A health and safety risk analysis must be conducted in relation to the employee intending on taking maternity leave and their workplace. Employers are required to identify any risk and either remove the risk or create an arrangement for the employee in which they are not exposed to this risk. Employees are covered by the protections of the Maternity Protection Act.                                                                                  If there are no options to accommodate an employee by removing the risk or creating new arrangements in the workplace, then the employer must give the employee health and safety leave from work which can continue until the beginning of maternity leave. The first three weeks of wages as part of health and safety leave must be paid by the employer. After this, the health and safety benefit is paid and depends on PRSI payments amongst other things.

Employees on maternity leave or additional maternity leave cannot be made redundant while they're on leave and if this happens the employee can bring an unfair dismissal claim to the WRC.

After the employee has given birth
After the employee has given birth and they seek to return to the workplace, the employee is entitled to return to the same position they held before maternity leave on the same terms and conditions. If circumstances in the workplace have changed and it's no longer possible to accommodate this, an employee has the right to a suitable alternative position. The work being done must be of the same kind that the employee did before availing of maternity leave.

Employees who are working and are breastfeeding are entitled to take one paid hour off work each day for the 104 weeks following the birth of a child. It can be taken in the examples below:

• One hour break
• Two 30 mins breaks
• Three 20 mins breaks

A private space if at all possible, should be provided for employees to avail of these breaks over the course of the entitlement.

Posted in Employment Contract, Health & Safety

The 5 Day Statement

Within the first 5 days of starting a job, employers must give employees part of their ‘written statement of terms of employment’. This written statement must include the core terms of employment and is also referred to as the 5 Day Statement.

Within 1 month of starting the job, employers must give employees the remaining terms of employment in writing (such as entitlement to annual leave).

The 5 Day Statement

The 5 Day Statement includes:

1. The full names of the employer and employee
2. The address of the employer
3. The place of work, or where there is no fixed or main place of work, a statement stating that there are various places or employees are free to set their own place of work or to work at various places
4. The date the employment started
5. The job title, grade or nature of the work (such as a brief job description)
6. The expected duration of the contract (if the contract is temporary or fixed-term)
7. The rate or method of calculating pay, and the ‘pay reference period’ (for example, whether you are paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly)
8. What the employer reasonably expects the normal length of the working day and week to be (for example, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week)
9. The duration and conditions relating to the probation period (if there is one)
10. Any terms or conditions relating to hours of work, including overtime

The right to get the core terms of employment (in writing) is set out in the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 and updated by the European Union (Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions) Regulations 2022. Employers can face serious penalties if they do not comply.

Employers must sign and date the ‘written statement of terms of employment’, but there is no legal requirement for employees to sign it. Employer must keep a copy of the written statement throughout employees employment, and for at least a year after it ends.

Posted in Employment Contract, Employment Law

Managing Annual Leave Requests

With summer coming along soon, annual leave requests may be more frequent however when does an employee’s time-off become an issue? How should managers handle the discussion? Here’s what you need to know and do.

Firstly there are 3 things to consider.

1. Communication: Establish well-defined policies about annual leave and make sure everyone in your organisation knows them. Clear policies lead to easier decisions when unusual requests arise.
2. Respect: If annual leave policies don’t cover a particular issue, respect your employees by striving to be fair and compassionate in making a decision and presenting it to them.
3. Clarity: Do your employees take it for granted that their annual leave requests will be approved? Make sure their expectations are based on actual policies, not informal beliefs based on past behaviour. Again, communication is essential.

There are also some times when you may need to speak with your employees regarding their requests. Consider talking directly with them under any of these circumstances:

• When the request contradicts company policy: You may need to make occasional exceptions to your annual leave policies, but strive to be consistent in how you enforce the rules. Document the reasons behind your decision when exceptions do arise so you can easily resolve similar situations in the future.
• When you believe the employee’s absence will have a negative impact: What if a worker wants to go on holiday during a crucial time for your organisation? Instead of simply denying the request, explain the difficulties their absence might cause. Together, you may be able to find a better time for their request.
• When an employee wants to much time off at once: How long is too long? That depends on your needs and the nature of the employee’s request. It’s one thing if they want to sail around the world, and another if they’re requesting time to care for a sick relative. As you discuss their request, remember that a lengthy absence can burden co-workers who have to pick up the work.
• When an annual leave request comes with too little notice: Sick days and emergencies can happen to anyone, but an employee who takes frequent last-minute personal days and trips can cripple productivity and impact team morale. A discussion about the effects their behaviour is having on the team can help the employee understand why they need to plan further in advance.
• When annual leave requests aren’t happening enough: Problematic annual leave requests are easy to spot, but there’s an annual leave issue that’s often over looked - many employees don’t take as much time off as they should. Overworking can take a toll on an employees health and happiness, as well as their job performance. Make a habit of looking at annual leave allowances, and talk to your team about the benefits of taking leave to help foster a culture where time off is encouraged and over-working and burnout is discouraged.

You should ask yourself some questions as well to establish annual leave rules that meet both your business needs and the needs of your employees.

1. How far in advance must employees request time off?
2. Do you have a formal system for requesting time off?
3. Are there times when employees can’t take time off?
4. How do you handle overlapping requests from different employees?
5. How do you keep track of who has taken time off and how much?

You can find more information on annual leave requests here.

Posted in Annual Leave

Improving Employees Wellbeing at Work

Employee wellbeing is essential to ensure employees are happy in their job. It is the way employees’ duties, expectations, stress levels and working environments affect their overall health and happiness.

Employee wellbeing involves several categories of wellness, such as:

• Physical Health
• Emotional Health
• Psychological Well Being
• Social Relationships
• Financial Stability

To check how your employees feel with the wellbeing in the workplace, employers should send out a survey to find out information on how employees currently feel as well as what they think can be done to improve wellbeing.

Some ways in with employers can improve wellbeing is by:

• Social club: companies can set up socials clubs where money is deducted from employees pay check and this goes towards activities that the club run on a regular basis such as a bowling night, crazy golf etc.
• Walking meetings: if there are meetings ran, allow employees to pop in the headphones and walk and by the time the meeting is over there have got their steps in and some fresh air.
• Have an intranet: an intranet is a great place to have free resources or information for employees that can improve their wellbeing. On the intranet you can include information on services your company provides such as EAP, healthcare etc. You can include link to risk assessments on Type 2 Diabetes, lung cancer etc as well as apps for mindfulness such as Headspace or Moodlight.
• Giving back to employees: it is important for employees to be recognised for the wonderful work they do. Employees should consider some benefits for this work such as allowing employees to finish early one day.

Employees wellbeing initiatives are something that need to be done all year round in order to keep your employees wellbeing at a high.

For more information on wellbeing check the blog below:

• Mental wellbeing

Posted in Health & Safety