PART I

Preliminary and General

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Parental Leave Act, 1998.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on the 3rd day of December, 1998.

2. —(1) In this Act—

“adoption order” means an order under section 9 of the Adoption Act, 1952 ;

“confirmation document” has the meaning assigned to it by section 9 ;

“contract of employment” means—

(a) a contract of service or apprenticeship, or

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person, who is carrying on the business of an employment agency within the meaning of the Employment Agency Act, 1971 , and is acting in the course of that business, to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not the third person is a party to the contract),

whether the contract is express or implied and if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

“date”, in relation to a confirmation document, means the date on which it is signed by the parties thereto or the later of the dates on which it is so signed;

“employee” means a person of any age who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment, and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be construed as references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the purposes of this Act, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces or a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956 ) shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the head (within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 ), of the public body (within the meaning aforesaid) in which he or she is employed and an officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 , or of a harbour authority, health board or vocational education committee shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority, board or committee, as the case may be;

“employer”, in relation to an employee—

(a) means the person with whom the employee has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment, subject to the qualification that the person who under a contract of employment referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of “contract of employment” is liable to pay the remuneration of the individual concerned in respect of the work or service concerned shall be deemed to be the individual's employer, and

(b) includes, where appropriate, the successor or an associated employer of the employer;

“force majeure leave” shall be construed in accordance with section 13 (1);

“job”, in relation to an employee, means the nature of the work that the employee is employed to do in accordance with his or her contract of employment and the capacity and place in which he or she is employed;

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

“parental leave” shall be construed in accordance with section 6 (1);

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Minister by regulations;

“successor”, in relation to an employer, shall be construed in accordance with section 15 (1);

“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, two employers shall be taken to be associated if one is a body corporate of which the other (whether directly or indirectly) has control or if both are bodies corporate of which a third person (whether directly or indirectly) has control and “associated employer” shall be construed accordingly.

(3) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a Part or section is a reference to a Part or section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended,

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and

(c) a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended, whether before or after the passing of this Act, by or under any subsequent enactment.

(4) A word or expression used in this Act and also in Council Directive 96/34/EC of 3 June, 1996, shall have the same meaning in this Act as in that Directive.

3. —(1) The Minister may—

(a) by regulations provide for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed, and

(b) make regulations generally for the purpose of giving effect to this Act and, if in any respect any difficulty arises during the period of two years after the commencement of this section in bringing into operation this Act, by regulations do anything which appears to be necessary or expedient for enabling this Act to have full effect.

(2) Before making a regulation under this Act, the Minister shall consult with persons whom he or she considers to be representative of employers generally and persons whom he or she considers to be representative of employees generally in relation to the regulation.

(3) A regulation under this Act may contain such consequential, supplementary and ancillary provisions as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.

(4) Every regulation under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to anything previously done thereunder.

4. —(1) A provision in any agreement shall be void in so far as it purports to exclude or limit the application of any provision of this Act or is inconsistent with any provision of this Act.

(2) A provision in any agreement which is or becomes less favourable in relation to an employee than a similar or corresponding entitlement conferred on the employee by this Act shall be deemed to be so modified as to be not less favourable.

(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting the inclusion in an agreement of a provision more favourable to an employee than any provision in Parts II to V .

(4) References in this section to an agreement are to any agreement, whether a contract of employment or not and whether made before or after the passing of this Act.

5. —Any expenses incurred by the Minister or the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.