Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2006

Amendment of section 7 of Principal Act.

4.— Section 7 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) in paragraph (a), by deleting “or”, and

(ii) by inserting the following after paragraph (a):

“(aa) subject to subsection (1A), 2 separate periods—

(i) each consisting of not less than 6 weeks, and

(ii) not exceeding 14 weeks in total, or”,

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (1):

“(1A) Subject to subsection (1B), where parental leave in respect of a child is taken by an employee pursuant to subsection (1)(aa), then in respect of that child the employee is not entitled to take the second period of parental leave unless not less than 10 weeks have elapsed since the first period of parental leave ended.

(1B) The employer concerned (or representatives of the employer and other employers) and the employee concerned (or representatives of the employee and other employees) may agree to a shorter period than the 10 weeks referred to in subsection (1A), either in a particular case or a class of cases.”,

(c) in subsection (2)(b), by substituting “referred to in paragraph (a) or (aa)” for “of 14 weeks referred to in paragraph (a)”,

(d) in subsection (3), by substituting “Subject to subsection (3A), where” for “Where”, and

(e) by inserting the following after subsection (3):

“(3A) Subsection (3) shall not apply to—

(a) any period of parental leave proposed to be taken by an employee—

(i) in respect of a child who has attained the age of 7 years before or on the date of commencement of this subsection, and

(ii) before the 1st anniversary of that date,

if the operation of section 6(2)(a) would prevent the employee from taking all or any part of that parental leave after that date, or

(b) any period of parental leave proposed to be taken by an employee—

(i) in respect of a child who has attained the age of 15 years before or on the date of commencement of this subsection, and

(ii) before the 1st anniversary of that date,

if the operation of section 6(2)(c) would prevent the employee from taking all or any part of that parental leave after that date.”.