Pregnancy in the workplace: What employers need to know

The Maternity Protection Act 1994 to 2004 states that employees qualify for maternity leave including casual workers. Employees do not need to have completed a specific length of service to qualify. Contractors do not qualify for maternity leave.

The current entitlement under the statutory scheme is that an employee can avail of 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and 16 weeks of unpaid additional maternity leave. During the 26 weeks of maternity leave, 2 of these must be taken before the baby’s expected birth date and 4 weeks must be taken after the baby’s birth.

Pregnancy in the workplace
Once the pregnancy is confirmed in writing including details of anticipated due date and any relevant medical details, employers must allow employees to take reasonable time off to attend medical visits related to that pregnancy. Employees are required to give 2 weeks written notice in advance of each appointment and an employer can request to see the appointment card. There is no cap on the number of appointments that may be available or the extent to which an employee can take paid time off in relation to these appointments. Employees can take paid time off to attend one set of antenatal classes.

Fixed term employees are entitled to avail of the full statutory entitlement of maternity leave. If the contract of employment date of termination falls within the 26-week window, it is extended until the end of the 26 weeks.

Maternity benefit is not a break of service so employees accrue public holidays, annual leave etc. as well as being entitled to their full suite of rights as they would be if they were working normally.

Maternity leave can start automatically either if the employee is absent from work wholly or partly because of their pregnancy at any time from the beginning of the four weeks before the start of their expected week of childbirth or when the employee has given birth naturally at that before maternity leave kicks in.

The maternity rate benefit as it stands is €262 per week for 26 weeks. It is the duty of the employer to inform the employee when their maternity leave will come to an end. If the employer receives notice that the employee seeks to avail of the additional 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, they would need to furnish the employee with the new end date and this notice is to be sent to the employee in writing within 28 days of receiving the initial notification. Employers are required to sign the MB 2 certificate as this is essential for the employee to avail of maternity benefits and return it to the employee.

A health and safety risk analysis must be conducted in relation to the employee intending on taking maternity leave and their workplace. Employers are required to identify any risk and either remove the risk or create an arrangement for the employee in which they are not exposed to this risk. Employees are covered by the protections of the Maternity Protection Act.                                                                                  If there are no options to accommodate an employee by removing the risk or creating new arrangements in the workplace, then the employer must give the employee health and safety leave from work which can continue until the beginning of maternity leave. The first three weeks of wages as part of health and safety leave must be paid by the employer. After this, the health and safety benefit is paid and depends on PRSI payments amongst other things.

Employees on maternity leave or additional maternity leave cannot be made redundant while they're on leave and if this happens the employee can bring an unfair dismissal claim to the WRC.

After the employee has given birth
After the employee has given birth and they seek to return to the workplace, the employee is entitled to return to the same position they held before maternity leave on the same terms and conditions. If circumstances in the workplace have changed and it's no longer possible to accommodate this, an employee has the right to a suitable alternative position. The work being done must be of the same kind that the employee did before availing of maternity leave.

Employees who are working and are breastfeeding are entitled to take one paid hour off work each day for the 104 weeks following the birth of a child. It can be taken in the examples below:

• One hour break
• Two 30 mins breaks
• Three 20 mins breaks

A private space if at all possible, should be provided for employees to avail of these breaks over the course of the entitlement.