How will working Irish parents be affected by the Leave and Benefit Act?

The Parent’s Leave and Benefit Act is a new statutory provision which allows working parents to spend more time with their baby or adopted child during the first year.

It is additional to maternity and paternity provisions and applies to births and adoptions on or after 1 November 2019.

Each parent is now entitled to two weeks’ parent’s leave. Somewhat confusingly, this is a different statutory provision from “parental leave”. The leave must be taken within 52 weeks of the child’s birth. For adoptive parents, this is 52 weeks from the placement date. Leave is unpaid but there is a statutory parent’s benefit for those with qualifying social insurance contributions.