Question:

An employee was granted 18 weeks parental leave by her employer in relation to her 6 year old child in 2016. She has enquired if she is entitled to any additional parental leave in relation to this child from September 2019.

Answer:

Currently, an employee is entitled to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave in respect of each qualifying child (i.e. a child who is under 8 years of age). From 1st September 2019 parental leave will increase by 4 weeks to 22 weeks and the age threshold for the child will increase from 8 to 12 years. An employee can avail of any outstanding balance of parental leave up to an overall maximum of 22 weeks from 1st September 2019 assuming the child is under 12 years. Where a child has a disability or long term illness, an upper age limit of 16 applies.