2.7 Parental Leave Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide unpaid parental leave to employees who are natural or adoptive parents or persons acting in loco parentis to facilitate them to take care of a child under the age of 8 or up to 16 years in the case of a child with a disability. The age limit may also be extended in the case of an adopted child; see below for further details.

Scope

This policy applies to all full and part-time employees who are parents, natural or adoptive, or persons acting in loco parentis, provided they meet specific criteria outlined in the policy below.

Policy

Any full-time employee who is a natural or adoptive parent or a person acting in loco parentis is entitled to 14 weeks unpaid leave to enable them to take care of their child.   Generally, the child must be under eight years of age. In the case of a child who is adopted aged over six but under eight, the leave may be taken within two years of the adoption order. In the case of a child with a disability, the leave may be taken any time before the child attains the age of 16 or when that child ceases to have that disability, whichever is earlier.  

Part-time employees have a pro-rata entitlement to leave. This is calculated on the average number of hours worked per week in the 14 weeks before the commencement of the parental leave.

Employees who have less than one year's service may be entitled to a pro-rata parental entitlement after three month's service if the child is about to go beyond the specified age limit. The parental leave entitlement is one week's unpaid leave for each month of continuous employment. 

The leave may be taken in separate blocks of at least six continuous weeks or broken down into pre-planned time off. Fourteen weeks of unpaid parental leave is available per eligible child, and the maximum time off in any one-year is 14 weeks (except in the case of multiple births, e.g. twins).

The transfer of parental leave entitlements from one parent to another if the same employer employs both parents.

An employee who falls ill while on parental leave and, as a result, cannot care for the child may suspend the parental leave for the duration of the illness, following which the parental leave recommences. The employee must provide medical certification in respect of their condition.

All employment rights are protected while on parental leave. Public holidays, annual leave, sick leave, force majeure or maternity leave are not considered part of parental leave.

Requests for parental leave must go to your Manager at least six weeks before the proposed commencement date. This request must specify the commencement date, duration and mechanism for taking the parental leave. A Birth Certificate for the child must be attached. Where leave is approved, this will be confirmed in writing four weeks before the commencement date. In certain circumstances, due to business requirements, it may not be possible to approve a leave period, in which case the leave may be postponed for up to 6 months. This will be communicated four weeks before the proposed commencement of leave. 

Glin National College reserves the right to discontinue the employee's salary and pension contributions during parental leave.