New legislation that will give parents and other carers five days of unpaid leave for their caring responsibilities was signed off by Cabinet earlier this week. The work-life balance bill will extend leave to workers who need to take time off to provide personal care or support to a relative.

The bill also extends to the right to request flexible or constricted work hours, for those with caring responsibilities. 

Minister for children Roderic O’Gorman introduced the bill, which will implement a European Union directive aimed at improving work-life balance.

It also extends the current right to paid breastfeeding breaks from six months to two years, and extends existing maternity leave rights to transgender people who give birth.

Fórsa has previously expressed concern at the alarmingly low rates of take-up of these forms of leave, which is mainly due to the fact that it’s unpaid.

But the union welcomed the proposed law as one of many measures needed to achieve a better work and home life balance for Irish parents, guardians and carers.

It is also understood that paid leave for domestic violence victims will be included as an amendment to the bill, though the details of this are still to be worked out.

Meanwhile, unions have criticised the Government’s recently-published proposed legislation on the right to request remote work in Ireland, saying it was heavily stacked in the favour of the employer and branded it the ‘right to refuse’ remote work in its current form.

Remote working has been shown to improve workers’ quality of life, make them happier and more productive. It also reduces commuting time and pollution.

An EU work-life balance directive, which came into force in 2019, is due to be fully transposed into Irish law by August 2022.

Measures under the umbrella directive include the introduction of paternity leave, ensuring that two out of the four months of parental leave are non-transferable between parents, extending the right to request flexible working arrangements to carers and working parents of children up to eight years old, and the introduction of carers’ leave.