The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 will make amendments to the Parental Leave Act 1998 by providing certain employees an entitlement to leave for medical care purposes and also to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes; and for those and other purposes to amend the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, the Maternity Protection Act 1994, the Adoptive Leave Act 1995, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 and the Workplace Relations Act 2015; and to provide for related matters.

The key changes in the new legislation are set out below.

Five days unpaid leave for medical care purposes for parents of children under 12, and carers

• The Act provides for the introduction of leave for medical care purposes to allow an employee to provide “significant care or support for a serious medical reason”. This will be reserved for instances of care given to a specified person who is a child, co-habitant, parent, grandparent, sibling or someone who resides with the employee; and

• This leave is unpaid and subject to a maximum of five days in any 12-month period.

Five days paid leave for victims of domestic violence

• The purpose of the leave is to enable an employee, in relation to the domestic violence experienced by him or her or, to assist them in doing, any of the following:

(a) seek medical attention;

(b) obtain services from a victim services organisation;

(c) obtain psychological or other professional counselling;

(d) relocate temporarily or permanently;

(e) obtain an order under the Domestic Violence Act 2018; and

(f) seek advice or assistance from a legal practitioner.

As is the case with all employee rights, the Act clearly outlines a prohibition from penalisation for raising complaints in relation to these new employee rights

The right to request flexible working for parents and carers

• This will give an employee a right to request a flexible working arrangement for caring purposes. Although this is much narrower than a general right to request flexible or remote working arrangements, it does include a request to adjust working hours or patterns, including through the use of remote working arrangements, for an employee who is or will be providing care to that child who is in need of care for a significant medical reason or an employee who is or will be providing personal care or support to one of the following:

(a) a person of whom the employee is the relevant parent;

(b) the spouse or civil partner of the employee;

(c) the cohabitant of the employee;

(d) a parent or grandparent of the employee;

(e) a sibling of the employee; or

(f) a person, other than one specified in (a) or (e) who resides in the same household as the employee.

• A request for a flexible working arrangement will need to be:

(a) in writing and signed by the employee;

(b) specify the form of the flexible working arrangement requested and the date of commencement and duration of the flexible working arrangement; and

(c) be submitted to his or her employer as soon as reasonably practicable but not later than eight weeks before the proposed commencement of the flexible working arrangement.

• An employer who receives a request for a flexible working arrangement submitted in accordance with the legislation will have to  consider that request, having regard to the employee’s needs and  will have four weeks from the date of the request to either approve the request or decline the request, outlining, where approved, the details of the agreement and date of the commencement and have it signed by both the employer and the employee, or else provide written notice that the request has been refused and giving reasons for the refusal or give notice in writing that a further four weeks is necessary to assess the viability of the request; and

• Finally, the new law also sets out the parameters for changes to flexible working arrangements, and terminating flexible working arrangements, and the right of employees to return to previous working arrangements upon the end of the agreement.

The right to request remote working for all employees

• In addition to the right to request flexible working for parents and carers, a more general right to request flexible working has been granted for all employees with at least six months service, but the Minister needs to create a code of practice before full implementation;

• A request for a remote working arrangement from an employee will need to be:

(a) in writing and signed by the employee;

(b) specify the details of the remote working arrangement requested and the proposed date of commencement and, where applicable, expiration of the remote working arrangement;

(c) specify, having regard to the code of practice:

(i) the reasons why he or she is requesting approval of the remote working arrangement (in this Part referred to as “the employee’s needs”);

(ii) details of the proposed remote working location; and

(iii) information as may be specified in the code of practice on the suitability of the proposed remote working location.

(d) be submitted to his or her employer as soon as reasonably practicable but not later than eight weeks before the proposed commencement of the remote working arrangement.

• Similar to requests for flexible working for parents and carers, an employer who receives a request will be obliged to consider the request having regard to:

(a)  the employer’s needs;

(b) the employee’s needs; and

(c) the requirements of the code of practice.

• When a request is submitted by an employee an employer will have four weeks to approve the request, which, if approved, will include an agreement signed by both employer and employee setting out the details of the agreement and the commencement and expiry date of the agreement or written notice of the refusal, giving reasons as to why the request was refused; or written notice that the employer requires an additional four weeks to assess the request; and

• As with other sections the new law also included provisions in relation to abuse of remote working and changes and termination of the remote working arrangement and the right of employees to return to previous working arrangement upon the end of the agreement.

Two years breastfeeding breaks

This amendment is an extension to the period allowing mothers to take breaks to breastfeed or express milk from 26 weeks to 104 weeks.

Conclusion

It is clear these changes will be brought into effect on a staggered basis and employers will need to keep up-to-date as to when these provisions of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 will come into effect, and as to the specifics of the code of practice when published. As is the case with all employee rights, the Act clearly outlines a prohibition from penalisation for raising complaints in relation to these new employee rights. In addition, the Act makes a number of amendments in relation to a number of acts such as “force majeure”, but are minor changes to include that leave in the amended acts.

Employers will need to have these changes reflected in a company handbook and amend the relevant policies.