Page 45 - O'Kelly Sutton Employee Handbook June 23 Revision 2 2020

weeks).

Please note, parent’s leave will be refused if you are not entitled to it.

Parents leave is unpaid by the company. Where enough PRSI contributions have been made the
parent will be entitled to a payment from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social
Protection. If you qualify for Parent’s Benefit, you will get €245 each week, if you are to receive a “top
up” while on parents leave, this will be specified in your contract of employment.

Parent’s Leave, Paternity Leave, Parental Leave and Adoptive Leave are individual family friendly
leaves. Each leave must be applied for separately and has different entitlements.

3.10.1 The difference between parental leave and parents leave
Parental leave entitles parents to take unpaid leave from work to spend time looking after their
children. Currently both parents can take up to 22 weeks parental leave and from 1 September 2020,
this will increase to 26 weeks.

Parent’s leave is specifically for parents during the child’s first year.

Paternity leave is specifically for new parents (other than the mother) in their child’s first 6 months.

This table explains the differences between the types of leave for parents.
Leave Who gets it? How long? Is it paid?
Maternity 26 weeks and up Yes, Maternity Benefit
Female employees
leave to 16 unpaid weeks is paid for 26 weeks
Adoptive Adoptive mothers, Men adopting alone 24 weeks and up Yes, Adoptive Benefit is
leave to 16 unpaid weeks paid for 24 weeks
Paternity New parents of children under 6 months 2 weeks Yes, Paternity Benefit is
leave of age (but not the mother of the child) paid for 2 weeks
Parental
leave Parents and guardians of children under 12 22 weeks No, it is unpaid
Parent’s Parents of children under 1 year of age 2 weeks Yes, Parent’s Benefit is
leave (or in first year of adoption) paid for 2 weeks

3.10.2 Entitlement to leave as a relevant parent
The following are employees who qualify for Parents Leave:
• A parent of the child
• A spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant of the parent of the child
• A parent of a donor-conceived child as provided for under section 5 of the Children and
Family Relationships Act 2015
• The adopting parent or parents of a child
• The spouse or civil partner of the adopting parent of the child (if the parents have not
adopted the child together)
• Each member of a married couple of the same sex, a couple that are civil partners of each
other, or a cohabiting couple of the same sex

3.10.3 Taking leave
Employees can take parents leave, either one week at a time or take the two weeks together.

3.10.4 Making an application

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