# Paternity Leave - can someone clarify please



## alaskaonline (25 Mar 2011)

I have been looking through various Irish websites to find info on paternity leave rights/ entitlements etc. The information found online confused me a bit. Citizen Information says it's not recognized in Ireland while other .ie websites that deal with employee rights say it is recognized and the father is entitled under certain conditions. Can someone clarify:

A) is it recognized in Ireland?
B) if yes, is it paid/ unpaid/ statutory?
C) it does not collide with maternity leave (in other words, mother doesn't have to give up some of her maternity leave weeks for the father to take time off to be there for both) ?

Thanks in advance - as always.


----------



## huskerdu (25 Mar 2011)

Parental Leave is a statutory entitlement in Irelandv for both mothers and fathers, with some ( a lot) of restrictions. 

It is unpaid. 
It must be taken while your child is under the age of 8
A maximum of 14 weeks can be taken in this time.
It can be taken in one block, or 1 days a week, or in smaller blocks, if your employer agrees. 
Your employer cannot refuse your request completely, but can refuse  to give the time off when you request it, if it does not suit the business. 
It has nothing to do with a mothers rights to maternity leave

Have a read here for all the details 

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/e...itions/leave_and_holidays/parental_leave.html


----------



## alaskaonline (25 Mar 2011)

thanks huskerdu.

i was however referring to paternity leave not parental leave.


----------



## Ceist Beag (25 Mar 2011)

You can see this in the link huskerdu posted alaskaonline - just go back up one from that link and you'll see a link for paternity leave - summarised below.

"Paternity leave is not recognised in employment law in Ireland. In other words, employers are not obliged to grant male employees special paternity leave (either paid or unpaid) following the birth of their child. Annual leave taken following the birth of a child is treated in employment law in the same way as leave taken at any other time of the year. It is at the discretion of the employer to decide who can and cannot take annual leave at a given time."


----------



## alaskaonline (25 Mar 2011)

Thanks Ceist Beag. As said in my original post I read the Citizen Info one before and got confused because other employee websites state different info. Hence my question if anyone can clarify maybe based on own experience or legal background. Thanks.


----------



## Ceist Beag (25 Mar 2011)

Doh yes so you did, sorry! I know from my own experience that it has been down to the employer (who give us 2 days paid leave) which backs up the citizens info. To be honest I'd expect that to be the correct information rather than any other websites.


----------



## WaterSprite (25 Mar 2011)

From a legal perspective, there is no entitlement to paternity leave in Ireland.  Citizens' Information is correct and other employee sites are not if they say different.

Individual employers may provide different policies, but that's at their discretion.


----------



## AlbacoreA (25 Mar 2011)

As far as I know... (I'm open to correction)

Theres no paternity leave in Ireland. 

Parental leave, you're only entitled to if you take it one one block. 

Parental leave in smaller blocks say one day a week, (because you can't afford to go unpaid for one block), is only at employers discretion. 

Most places I've worked allowed 2 or 3 days of paid paternity leave.


----------



## huskerdu (25 Mar 2011)

alaskaonline said:


> Thanks Ceist Beag. As said in my original post I read the Citizen Info one before and got confused because other employee websites state different info. Hence my question if anyone can clarify maybe based on own experience or legal background. Thanks.



I dont know what websites you saw that claimed that there is statutory entitlement to Paternity leave, but possibly they meant parental leave.

citizensinformation is a government website. Another website from a private source should not be taken as more valid than it.


----------



## noc1 (25 Mar 2011)

People ALWAYS seem to mix up the terms "parental" and "paternity".


----------



## Leper (28 Mar 2011)

There is no obligation from any employer to give Paternity Leave let alone give pay for it.


----------

