Working parents can now apply for four weeks' extra parental leave

The period of unpaid parental leave will be extended from the current entitlement of 18 weeks to 22 weeks from September 1 2019

Working parents can now apply for four weeks' extra parental leave, it was announced yesterday.

Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan signed the Commencement Order for the Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2019 yesterday, letting enabled working parents apply for the additional unpaid parental leave from the start of September.

Minister Flanagan said: “The period of unpaid parental leave will be extended from the current entitlement of 18 weeks to 22 weeks from 1st September 2019.

“Further changes will come into place on 1st September 2020 when the unpaid parental leave entitlement will be extended to 26 weeks.

“The new measures allow any parent who has already availed of their current entitlement of 18 weeks to avail of a further eight weeks of parental leave.

“Parents can now apply to their employer for permission related to the first additional four weeks.

“The legislation also introduces an increase to the age of the child for which parental leave is available from eight to 12 years.

“Both mothers and fathers may apply for this leave which I anticipate may be of particular benefit to parents that wish to take the unpaid leave when their children will be returning to school in September.”

Minister of State David Stanton added: “An estimated 60,000 parents a year are expected to gain from this change.

“The Government will continue to support parents by providing greater flexibility in achieving and managing a work life balance.”

Source: Here.