SME’s feel the affect of new maternity benefits less than a month since the new regulations significantly extending maternity leave came into force. Sample survey by IT Force’s Specialist Resources Division estimates three in five SMEs will be affected directly, with one in five managerial positions under pressure.
The new maternity and adoptive leave entitlements came into force on the 1st March which was also “Work Life Balance Day”. Women are now entitled to have 26 weeks leave attracting payment and 16 weeks unpaid maternity leave as opposed to 22 weeks of paid leave and 12 weeks unpaid maternity leave.
Joe O’Reilly, sales director of specialist resources for IT Force says while the extension of leave entitlements is welcome it is putting extra pressure on SME’s in particular. “Since the introduction of the new legal changes, we have seen a significant increase in requests from organisations seeking a professional to replace a person availing of the new leave entitlements.”
“In our sector, we have seen a significant increase in the amount of companies asking for a de facto IT manager to cover for entitled leave. There is a definite connection between the new legislation and these recent increases in demand.”
Maternity and Adoptive Leave are considered Protective Leave which means that employment rights are fully protected while an employee is availing of this leave.
The Maternity Protection Acts, 1994 and 2004 provide employees with rights to maternity leave, additional maternity leave, health and safety leave and time off to attend ante-natal and post-natal care. An employee has the right to return to work following maternity leave. There is no minimum service requirement with the employer required for an employee to avail of the provisions from the Acts.
“What this means in practical terms is that the staff member can take maternity leave (26 weeks) or adoptive leave (24 weeks), followed by the Additional Leave (16 weeks) and can be absent from the workplace for a total of 40-42 weeks.
“Under the Parental Leave Act 1998, an employee who is the natural or adoptive parent of a child under eight years of age is entitled to take up to 14 weeks unpaid leave to enable them to take care of the child. It also entitles them to a number of paid days leave (force majeure) to deal with family emergencies resulting from illness or injury of a family member. Each parent is entitled to 14 weeks parental leave for each child. It is not uncommon for a request to be made to the employer to tag on some/all of the parental leave entitlements following additional maternity/adoptive leave, potentially elongating the employee’s absence from the workplace. As the Leave is protected, the employer is obliged to hold the position (or an equivalent position) open for the employee for when she returns to work.
“For SMEs this means that they have a minimum gap of six months to consider and this can stretch to more than a year. If the SME has a policy to top up salary/wages during the Maternity/Adoptive Leave periods, this can prove costly as they may also need to look into replacing the employee who is on leave.
“While this is relevant to all organisations, SMEs are particularly affected because they obviously have fewer resources. For example, if an IT manager takes their new entitled leave, the organisation will be without an IT manager for the length of the period.”
There are large differences in the number of weeks’ paid maternity leave in Western Europe. In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, women are entitled to as much as 96, 52 and 50 weeks’ paid leave respectively, while those in France (for first and second child), the Netherlands and Spain are only entitled to
16 weeks leave. German women get just 14 weeks’ paid leave. In Eastern Europe, women in the Czech Republic get 28 weeks’ leave, while those in Hungary are entitled to 24 weeks. In Poland, women are allowed 16 weeks
leave (for first child).
The rates of pay are also very different across Europe. There is no onus on an employer in Ireland to ‘top up’ salary. The statutory max rate that is payable in Ireland is 265.60. In France, 100% of salary is paid for 16 weeks for the first and second child, in Italy 5 months at 100% is payable followed by an additional 6 months at 30% of salary, in the Netherlands and Spain, 100% is payable for 16 weeks, in Norway 100% of salary for 43 weeks or 80% of salary for 53 weeks.
O’Reilly adds, “The laws have been amended to offer longer maternity leave, yet pay levels are still very low in comparison to the rest of Europe. Not everyone can afford to take the extended leave, although it might appear generous.”
However, the positive is that employers know in advance that the staff member is going to take leave and O’Reilly recommends preparation is the key to divert any loss to a company.
“With the new entitlements in force, SMEs need to be prepared for this scenario and have a plan in place to ensure that standards are not affected, particularly if the person’s role is critical to the business as is the case in IT. Employers need to kick this plan into action as soon as they get notified of leave by the employer.”
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