Harassment Offensive, bullying, threatening or otherwise inappropriate behaviour by a manager or colleague. Maternity Leave Time off work for pregnancy/ childbirth. Currently 26 weeks. You are entitled to a social welfare payment while on maternity leave. The minimum weekly payment is €230.30 up to a maximum of €280. You are also entitled to take a further 16 weeks’ additional maternity leave, but this period is not covered by Maternity Benefit, nor is your employer obliged, unless otherwise agreed, to make any payment during this period. Night Workers Normally work at least 3 hours of their daily working time at night or the annual number of hours worked at night equals or exceeds 50% of annual working time. Night is defined as the period between midnight and 7am the following day. Parental Leave The mother and father of a child are entitled to fourteen weeks unpaid parental leave in separate blocks of a minimum of six continuous weeks. Time spent on parental leave can be used to accumulate your annual leave entitlement. Paternity Leave Paternity leave is not recognised in employment law in Ireland. In other words, employers are not obliged to grant male employees special paternity leave (either paid or unpaid) following the birth of their child. However some unionised employers in Ireland do provide a period of paid leave from work for male employees following the birth or adoption of their child. Redundancy Generally a redundancy situation arises if your job ceases to exist and you are not replaced. The reasoning for the redundancy situation could be the financial position of the firm, lack of work, reorganisation within the firm or it may be closing down completely. Representation You have the legal right to trade union representation at grievance and/ or disciplinary hearings. Union Recognition When an employer agrees that their employees can be represented collectively by a trade union. Victimisation Being unfairly singled out for bad treatment of some kind. This is quite likely to be illegal because of the grounds chosen to single you out (for example because of your race or because of your trade union activities) and because your employer owes you a general duty of care. Working Time Act 1997 Legislation to ensure workers have adequate time off and rest periods.
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