STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 358 of 1981.

MATERNITY PROTECTION (TIME OFF FOR ANTE-NATAL AND POST-NATAL CARE) REGULATIONS, 1981.

S.I. No. 358 of 1981.

MATERNITY PROTECTION (TIME OFF FOR ANTE-NATAL AND POST-NATAL CARE) REGULATIONS, 1981.

I, LIAM KAVANAGH, Minister for Labour, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 16 of the Maternity Protection of Employees Act, 1981 ( No. 2 of 1981 ), and after compliance with section 4(5) of that Act, hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Maternity Protection (Time off for Ante-Natal and Post-Natal Care) Regulations, 1981, and shall come into operation on the 23rd day of October, 1981.

2. In these Regulations--

“the Act of 1981” means the Maternity Protection of Employees Act, 1981 (No. 2 of 1981) ;

“confined” shall be construed in accordance with the meaning assigned to “confinement” by the Act of 1981;

“medical or related appointment” means, in relation to an employee, an appointment for the purpose of an examination or test to be undergone by the employee that is carried out by, under the supervision or at the direction of, a registered medical practitioner and that--

(a) in the case of ante-natal care, relates directly to an existing pregnancy of the employee, and

(b) in the case of post-natal care, is after a confinement of the employee and exclusively consequential on that confinement;

“normal working time”, in relation to time off from work, does not include overtime in the case of an employee who, in the month ending on the day on which the time off from work is taken, has worked less than 20 hours of overtime.

3. Subject to Regulation 4 of these Regulations, an employee to whom Part II of the Act of 1981 applies, who is pregnant and who has a medical or related appointment shall be entitled to take such time off from her work during her normal working time as is necessary to enable her to keep that appointment.

4. (1) Entitlement to time off from her work under Regulation 3 of these Regulations shall be subject to an employee's having--

(a) notified her employer in writing of the date and time of the appointment to which the time off from her work will relate as soon as practicable and in any event not later than two weeks before the date of the appointment, and

(b) produced for her employer's inspection, if he so requests, an appointment card or other appropriate document--

(i) indicating the date and time of the appointment, and

(ii) confirming the pregnancy or specifying the expected week of confinement.

(2) Paragraph (1) (b) of this Regulation shall not apply where the employee's appointment is her first medical or related appointment in relation to the pregnancy to which the appointment relates.

(3) Where the circumstances are such that compliance by an employee with paragraph (1) of this Regulation is not possible and non-compliance is not due to the neglect or default of the employee in relation to the arrangement of the appointment, the employee shall be deemed to have complied with the reequirements of the said paragraph (1) if she furnishes the employer with evidence of her having kept a medical or related appointment and an indication of the circumstances aforesaid not later than one week after the date of such appointment.

5. Subject to Regulation 6 of these Regulations, an employee to whom Part II of the Act of 1981 applies, who has been confined and who has a medical or related appointment during the period of 14 weeks immediately after the confinement shall be entitled to take such time off from her work during her normal working time as is necessary to enable her to keep that appointment.

6. Entitlement to time off from her work under Regulation 5 of these Regulations shall be subject to an employee's having--

(a) notified her employer in writing of the date and time of the appointment to which the time off from her work will relate as soon as practicable and in any event not later than two weeks before the date of the appointment, and

(b) produced for her employer's inspection, if he so requests, an appointment card or other appropriate document indicating the date and time of the appointment and the date of her confinement.

7. These Regulations are without prejudice to the right of an employer and his female employees or their representatives to enter into an agreement concerning the question of the payment of remuneration (and the rate or amount of such remuneration) to the female employees in respect of time off from their work under these Regulations.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations set out the details of the general entitlement of employees to time off from work for the purpose of ante-natal and post-natal care under section 16 of the Maternity Protection of Employees Act, 1981 , and they have the effect of bringing that section into operation.