STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 231 of 2000.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (PARENTAL LEAVE) REGULATIONS, 2000

S.I. No. 231 of 2000.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (PARENTAL LEAVE) REGULATIONS, 2000

I, JOHN O'DONOGHUE, T.D., Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 ( No. 27 of 1972 ), and for the purpose of giving full effect to Council Directive 96/34/EC of 3 June 1996 on the framework agreement on parental leave concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the ETUC⁽¹⁾ , hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Parental Leave) Regulations, 2000.

2. (1) In these Regulations--

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

“the Principal Act” means the Parental Leave Act, 1998 (No. 30 of 1998) ;

“the specified period” means the period beginning on 3 December, 1993, and ending on 2 June, 1996.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Principal Act has the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in that Act.

(3) In these Regulations, a reference to a Regulation is a reference to a Regulation of these Regulations unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

3. (1) An employee who is the natural parent of a child born in the specified period is entitled to parental leave in respect of the child.

(2) An employee who is the adoptive parent of a child born on or after 3 December, 1993, and in whose case an adoption order was made during the specified period is entitled to parental leave in respect of the child.

(3) Section 6(2) of the Principal Act is repealed.

4. A period of parental leave taken by virtue of Regulation 3 shall end not later than 31 December, 2001, and section 6(3) of the Principal Act shall not apply to such a period.

5. Where--

(a) an employee to whom Regulation 3 applies changes his or her employment during the period of 12 months before the making of these Regulations, and

(b) the period of parental leave to which he or she is entitled in the new employment would have been longer if the change of employment had not occurred,

then, for the purposes of subsections (4) and (8) of section 6 of the Principal Act, the periods of employment in the new employment and the previous employment or employments--

(i) shall be taken into account for the purpose of calculating entitlement to parental leave under Regulation 3, and

(ii) shall be regarded as one continuous period of employment.

6. The references in section 7(3) of the Principal Act to parental leave do not include references to parental leave taken by virtue of Regulation 3.

7. Where an employee is entitled to a period of parental leave in respect of more than one child and one at least of the entitlements is by virtue of Regulation 3--

(a) sections 10 and 11 of the Principal Act shall apply to each such period as if it was the only such period to which the employee is entitled, and

(b) if, by virtue of the postponement of a period under the said section 10 or 11 or of part of such a period under the said section 10 (being periods the entitlement to which is under Regulation 3), the period expires after 31 December, 2001, the period shall be deemed to have expired before that date.

8. A rights commissioner or the Tribunal may, if the commissioner or the Tribunal considers it reasonable to do so, having regard to the illness or other incapacity of an employee entitled to parental leave by virtue of Regulation 3 or any other circumstance, direct that the leave be taken at a time that does not accord with Regulation 4.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations amend the Parental Leave Act, 1998 to extend entitlement to parental leave to--

(i) natural parents of children born between 3 December, 1993 and 2 June, 1996, and

(ii) adoptive parents of children born on or after 3 December 1993, and in whose case an adoption order was made between 3 December, 1993 and 2 June, 1996.

Parents are entitled to 14 weeks parental leave in respect of each child and must avail of their new entitlement to parental leave not later than 31 December, 2001.

A number of consequential amendments are also made to the Act.

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L 145, 19.6.96, P.4.