New Statutory Leave Updates
The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 was signed into law on the 4th April 2023. From the 3rd of July, two of the changes are coming into effect. These are:
• a breastfeeding at work extension
• unpaid leave for medical care purposes
The breastfeeding at work entitlement has been extended from 6 months to 2 years after the birth of a child. Employees are entitled to take one paid hour off work each day. It can be taken in the examples below:
• One hour break
• Two 30 min breaks
• Three 20 min breaks
Employees have an entitlement to 5 days of unpaid leave per year for medical care purposes. Apart from doing so for the employee’s own medical care, an employee will be allowed take this leave for:
• their children,
• spouse, civil partner or cohabitant,
• a parent,
• a grandparent,
• a sibling,
• any person living in the household
