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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Thomas Telford

Work-life balance bill: Increase in breastfeeding hours with pay and transgender rights

Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman is to bring the "work-life balance bill" before the cabinet today.

This bill is aimed at making workplaces across the country more supportive for families.

A recent directive was passed at European Union level which now requires Irish law to be updated.

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What changes can workers with families expect when the work-life balance bill is adopted?

Under the new bill, parents will be guaranteed five days of unpaid leave to look after sick children.

Carers or parents will have the right to request flexible/reduced working hours.

Minister O'Gorman is looking to extend entitlement to paid breastfeeding breaks from the current six months to two years.

Women who breastfeed are currently entitled to take one hour off work each day with pay to breastfeed their child.

Women who transition into males but become pregnant afterwards will also be given the same amount of time off to breastfeed.

Victims of domestic abuse will also be able to get leave from work if the bill is signed off.

This is the latest bill being brought before Government to improve working conditions for people.

Under the right to request remote working bill, employees who have worked for a company for at least six months can apply for remote work.

There are 13 reasons why a worker may not be granted the request to work from home.

Some of the reasons include:

  • The nature of the work not allowing for the work to be done remotely
  • Cannot reorganise work among existing staff
  • Potential negative impact on quality

The other reasons can be found here.

The employer must have a "good" reason for denying the request and the employee can appeal to the Workplace Relations Commission.

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