News
Double Trouble? Parental leave and multiple births
Parents of children up to the age of 8 have the right to take up to 14 weeks parental leave. The Irish legislation seems to provide that in relation to multiple births, parents may take parental leave in respect of each child (see Section 7 (3) of the Parental Leave Acts).
However, the decision of the CJEU in the Chatzi case (Case C-149/10) indicates that the Irish statutes may go beyond what is required by EU law. In that case, the claimant sought parental leave from her employer, the Greek Department of Finance, in respect of each of her twins. Her request for the second period of parental leave was declined. Her challenge to that decision was referred to the CJEU, who considered it in the light of the provisions of the Framework Agreement on parental leave.
The CJEU made two interesting findings;
- Framework Agreement does not create a right to parental leave for the child. The Framework Agreement clearly states that it applies to "men and women workers" and creates no rights for the children of workers.
- The Framework Agreement did not require that the birth of twins conferred entitlement to two periods of parental leave. However, Member States were required to establish a parental leave regime which ensures that parents of twins meet their particular needs.
It may be worth noting that the Greek period of parental leave was 9 months, far greater than the 14 weeks that applies here.
Seeking Employment Law Litigation Advice
For further information and advice regarding your legal rights and entitlements, please contact Malcomson Law by calling 01 8744422 or complete an Online Enquiry Form. Your enquiry will be forwarded to a Solicitor who specialises in Employment Law.
This news section contains stories of interest from publicly available news sources. Where we are representing the clients referred to in the news material we will say so. Where we do not represent individuals or bodies mentioned or quoted, the inclusion of the news story in our news section is not intended nor should it be taken to imply that we act for the individual or body concerned.
Your Comments
If you would like to add a comment to this article, please fill in the form below. Your comment will need to be approved by a moderator before being added to this page.