Q. I have applied for parental leave and I have received a letter from my employer to say that I’ve been refused and that I can reapply in 6 months’ time. Is this correct?
A. This is incorrect. The Parental Leave Act 1988 is very clear in terms of the rights and entitlements of parents. Parental leave differs from flexible working in that your employer is obligated to approve your request in some format - hours, days, weeks, fortnights or in a larger block. Every applicant is entitled to 18 weeks parental leave per child up until they reach 13 or 16 with a child with special needs. When the application is being considered it must be approved in some format, but the start date can be postponed by your employer by up to 6 months.
Points to note:
Parental Leave and flexible working are different.
There can only be one six-month postponement.
Your entitlement is 18 weeks per child.
If both parents work for the HSE there can be a transfer of weeks from one parent to another.
What Paperwork Needs to Be Done Following an Assault at Work By A Patient?
Incident needs to be recorded in the patients file, incident form completed, incident to be recorded in the daily or nightly report and submitted to management. The records above will be completed by the Nurse in Charge in the Unit.
If the Nurse is out on sick leave following the assault-
- The nurse needs to attend A & E or own GP. Review by SHO in own area is not acceptable.
- Following treatment, a letter or certificate should be sought including nature of injury, treatment given, and initial time given on sick leave. This letter should include that the nurse “was assaulted at work”.
- At first opportunity complete Form 108 for Serious Physical Assault and return to ADON office with sickness certificate. (This form has to be processed by managers as soon as possible so that no interruption to premium pay is necessary.)
Nurses who pay “A “stamp there is requirement to obtain a social welfare certificate
