Parental leave for working parents could be set to increase

Tomorrow, a bill is going before the Dáil to increase to six months the amount of parental leave available to working parents.

The current  Social Democrats Bill allows parents to take a total of six months (26 weeks) unpaid leave from their jobs without their employment rights being affected. The proposals are for  eight weeks more than the current period of four months (18 weeks) unpaid leave. The Bill also allows leave over the lifetime of children up to the age of 12 (currently eight).

The party’s co-leader Róisín Shortall TD said:"We are very pleased that our proposals to give more flexibility to working families will go through the Dáil tomorrow. Increasing the amount of unpaid leave available represents a win-win for both working parents and employees. For parents with pre-school children in particular, unpaid parental leave can be a realistic alternative to paying the high costs of formal childcare.”

The party’s spokesperson on Children, Councillor Jennifer Whitmore, said: “Employers are understandably keen to retain women workers – and these measures could be the difference between a mother staying in her job as an active member of the workforce, or quitting out of exhaustion and stress. We are delighted that our Bill is now one step closer to becoming law.”