S.I. No. 18/1995:

MATERNITY PROTECTION (TIME OFF FOR ANTE-NATAL AND POST-NATAL CARE) REGULATIONS, 1995.

MATERNITY PROTECTION (TIME OFF FOR ANTE-NATAL AND POST-NATAL CARE) REGULATIONS, 1995.

I, MERVYN TAYLOR, Minister for Equality and Law Reform, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 15 of the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 (No. 34 of 1994), 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, 1995 and shall come into operation on the 30th day of January 1995.

2. In these Regulations--

"the 1994 Act" means the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 (No. 34 of 1994);

"confined" has the meaning given by section 41 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993 ;

"employee" has the same meaning as in Part II of the 1994 Act;

"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 of, 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 consequential on that confinement;

"normal working time", in relation to time taken 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 who is pregnant and who has a medical or related appointment shall be entitled, without loss of pay, 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, on request, 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, in the case of a particular appointment--,-

( a ) compliance by an employee with paragraph (1) of this Regulation is not possible, and

( b ) non-compliance is not due to the neglect or default of the employee in relation to the arrangement of the appointment,

she shall be deemed to have complied with the requirement of that paragraph if, not later than one week after the date of the appointment, she furnishes the employer with evidence of her having kept the appointment and an indication of the circumstances which occasioned the non-compliance.

5. Subject to Regulation 6 of these Regulations, an employee 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, without loss of pay, to take such time off from her work during her normal working time as is necessary to enable her to keep that appointment.

6. (1) 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, on request, an appointment card or other appropriate document indicating the date and time of the appointment and the date of her confinement.

(2) Where the circumstances are such that, in the case of a particular appointment,--

( a ) compliance by the employee with paragraph (1) of this Regulation is not possible, and

( b ) non-compliance is not due to the neglect or default of the employee in relation to the arrangement of the appointment, she shall be deemed to have complied with the requirements of that paragraph if, not later than one week after the date of the appointment in question, she furnishes her employer with evidence of her having kept the appointment and an indication of the circumstances which occasioned the non-compliance.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 30th day of January, 1995.

MERVYN TAYLOR,

Minister for Equality and Law

Reform.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

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 15 of the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 .