What is Leave for Medical Care Purposes?
To be able to avail of Leave for Medical Care purposes, employees and employers must be able to understand their rights and obligations in relation to this and how it differs from other types of statutory leave, writes Caroline Reidy
Print28 October 2024
Leave for Medical Care Purposes was introduced via the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, so it’s relatively new to the workplace.
An employee has the right to take a leave of absence from work, without compensation, to care for a person who requires substantial care or support for a serious medical condition.
To qualify for this, the said person must be:
- a person of whom the employee is the relevant parent
- the spouse or civil partner of the employee
- the cohabitant of the employee
- a parent or grandparent of the employee;
- a brother or sister of the employee;
- a person (other than one specified in the above) who resides in the same household as the employee.
No service requirement is required to avail of this leave.
Entitlement to Leave for Medical Care Purposes
Only in situations where the employee must personally care for or support a family member or cohabitant who needs substantial care or support for a serious medical condition, will leave for medical reasons be granted.
Employees are entitled to up to five days unpaid leave for medical purposes per year.
In the case where an employee takes only part of a working day as leave for medical care purposes, this shall be considered one full day of their entitlement.
Are written records required?
The written request from the employee should be retained by the Organisation, and the employee should receive a written acknowledgement of receipt.
The employer may ask the employee to furnish any information that may be reasonably needed to support the leave, such as the employee’s relationship to the person for whom the leave is being requested or has already been taken, the type of personal care or support that the employee is required to provide to the person in question, and relevant documentation pertaining to the person’s need for the significant care or support in question, such as a medical certificate.
How long should a company retain documents relating to Leave for Medical Purposes?
Employers must keep a record of all leave taken by employees for medical care purposes, including the dates and times of each employee’s leave.
These records must be kept on file for a minimum of three years.
Protection of Employment Rights regarding availing of Leave for Medical Care Purposes?
- You have the right to resume working in the position you held just before being absent on leave for medical care purposes.
- The period of leave in relation to leave for medical care purposes will count as continuous employment.
- An employee cannot be dismissed for requesting or taking this leave.
- Your employer is not allowed to penalise you or treat you unfairly in any way, such as by choosing to lay you off or offering you poorer working conditions, after you have requested or taken Leave for Medical Care Purposes.
- Having defined Leave for Medical Care Purposes, we can compare it to other types of family-friendly statutory leave. A different type of leave which has some similarities is Force Majeure Leave.
Leave for Medical Care Purposes compared to Force Majeure Leave:
Force Majeure Leave is not the same as Leave for Medical Care Purposes.
Force Majeure leave is a type of paid leave from work that applies when a close family member or dependant becomes ill or injured and the employee’s immediate attendance is required for urgent family matters, whereas Leave for Medical Care Purposes is utilised when an employee is entitled to leave without pay from his or her employment for the purposes of providing personal care or support to a person who is in need of significant care or support for a serious medical reason.
Leave for Medical Care Purposes entitles Employees to avail of up to five days unpaid leave in any period of 12 consecutive months whereas Force Majeure leave, once approved, gives the employee an entitlement to paid leave of up to three days in any 12 consecutive months, or five days in any 36 consecutive months.
The key difference with these two types of leave (aside from the number of days and the provisions around being paid/ unpaid) is that Force Majeure Leave is for emergency medical matters only with immediate family members or dependants, that require the employee’s immediate attendance in person.
Whereas Leave for Medical Care purposes can be used for caring for a dependant with serious medical needs for both emergency and non-emergency situations.
Read more: EU Pay Transparency Directive
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