Paternity leave in Ireland: What’s the reality?

You could reasonably argue that few things are more precious than the birth or adoption of a new child. Their arrival signals a new chapter for their family – whether this child is their first or their fifth – and most people agree that this very special (and, let’s be honest, often challenging) time is the optimal time for bonding and for supporting the whole family.

There are positive changes across many sectors which mean offering extended paid leave for new fathers becoming increasingly common. However, there are arguments that paternity leave entitlements in Ireland are not generous enough (more on that later) and, importantly, there are also attitudinal barriers with men reporting that they don’t feel supported or encouraged to take this important period of leave.

This results in a disconnect between policy and reality, which has negative implications for families.

Daniel*, who works at a business consultancy in Cork and asked to remain anonymous, says it’s kind of the unspoken rule where he works that you don’t take your full paternity entitlement. When he and his wife welcomed their first child two years ago, he was back at work three days later.

“The firm is a small outfit. They only hire a small number of staff and so it’s always been clear that taking your full paternity leave would leave them short-staffed and at a disadvantage,” Daniel shares.

“Don’t get me wrong, they’ve never explicitly said ‘Don’t take it’, but it’s very obvious where you stand. The expectation is that you’ll spend the first weekend with your new child and be back at your desk on Monday morning. You get the feeling that taking your full entitlement would hamper your promotion chances.”

Parental outcomes

It will hardly come as a surprise that in studies, time off for fathers following the birth of a child was linked with improved parenting relationships and parenting quality.

In one study, mothers reported higher relationship quality, co-parenting quality, and father involvement when new dads took adequate time off work.

And so did the dads. The longer they took off work following their child’s birth the more positively they viewed their spousal relationship and the more their parental outcomes improved. In other words? Paternity leave has a direct impact not only on the wellbeing of the child, but on both parents as well.

Specifically, the authors of the study note, “taking time off work following the birth of a child may enable fathers to become more engaged parents, contributing to reduced conflicts, a more equitable division of household labour, and stronger relationships with mothers.”

Practical challenges

Companies in Ireland have a legal obligation to provide a period of paternity leave. “Under Irish employment law, a father or relevant parent of a child (such as the partner of the mother of the child, regardless of gender, or the parent of a donor-conceived child) is entitled to two weeks continuous leave within the first six months of the child being born,” explains Julie Galbraith, partner at law firm Eversheds Sutherland.

“Unlike certain other types of employee leave in relation to children, such as parental leave, an employee is not required to have a certain period of service with an employer to be entitled to paternity leave,” says Julie, clarifying something parents often think about if they are changing organisations. “Therefore, they are entitled to request this leave upon entering employment.”

“While paternity leave must be taken within the first six months of birth or adoption, leave may be postponed or delayed under certain exceptions. This may be, for example, in instances of hospitalisation of the child, sickness of the parent, or delays in adoption. An employer should be notified in writing in such instances,” she says.

While two weeks of continuous leave is the legal standard, Julie says employers can opt to allow their employees to take a longer period of leave than what is required by law. However, employers are not obliged to pay employees during this longer period. Whether an employer decides to top up an employee’s Paternity Benefit is at their discretion and dependent on their contract of employment. These financial challenges are just one example of the practical and cultural barriers that often prevent men from taking their full paternity leave.

Daniel believes there is a big impact on families when a partner does not feel supported to take paternity leave. “I remember my wife was so exhausted and vulnerable at the time. She’d had a difficult birth and was still in a lot of pain. I didn’t want to leave her, but with a family to support I had to consider the financial implications of not going back to work when I was expected to.”

‘Missing out’

Daniel notes that the pressure to return to work meant he missed out on crucial bonding time with his newborn and wasn’t able to give his wife the support she desperately needed in those difficult first weeks.

“I didn’t really get a chance to figure out how to parent, while my wife has thrown in at the deep end. Those first few weeks could have been an opportunity for us to figure out our strengths and weaknesses as parents and decide how we could best work together, but returning to work so soon meant I missed out.”

Daniel believes this has had a lasting impact, as he now takes a less active role as a result. “My wife quickly learned to cope without me at home, and so she takes charge of a lot of parenting duties, simply because she had to.”

 Changing the narrative

While there are legal rights in place to protect fathers and on paper, more companies appear to be offering extended paternity leave policies, it’s obvious that these intentions aren’t always followed through on.

Ornua, Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, is one company that’s seeking to change the narrative around paternity leave in Ireland. This year they increased their paid paternity leave for new fathers from two weeks to four weeks. This leave can be taken in one bulk of four weeks or split if an employee wants to plan to use this over time. For example, some parents chose to use some of it when their partner is returning to work following maternity leave. “We have a strong culture at Ornua which is based on the principle of all colleagues bringing their whole selves to work,” explains Majella Darcy, chief people officer.

“For this to happen, we need to recognise the importance of key milestones in employees’ personal lives. As an employer, it is about supporting true work-life balance and creating an environment where employees feel empowered to access that support.”

Although the extended paternity leave policy has only recently been introduced, Majella says Ornua has already seen a strong response and received very positive feedback from those who have availed of it. “We’ve found [new dads] are appreciative of the time in which they can solely focus on their new child and supporting their partner and family at home. It’s about leaving the work-related pressures behind to enable them to enjoy what is a really important time in getting to know their new little one,” Majella surmises.

Simon Ball, managing director, at Ornua Foods UK, says having this extra time off alleviated some of the worry in the lead-up to the birth of his child. “From a personal point of view, it removed a bit of worry for me as I knew I would be on hand to support my wife at a time when she needed it most,” he says. “I also wanted to be there for our other daughter, Tallulah, who was only 16 months old at the time.”

“Leading up to the birth, both myself and my wife were excited because we knew we would be able to spend the first few weeks together as a family. This allowed us to make plans which helped add to the excitement and enjoyment of the whole occasion,” Simon adds.

Of course, that’s not always the case for many dads. Excitement can be clouded by financial obligations and unsupportive workplace environments that place the burden of newborn care on the mother.

It often means that women are forced to spend more time out of the workforce. Contrastingly, research consistently backs the idea that longer periods of paternity leave can narrow the gender pay gap.

In fact, according to the Centre For Progressive Policy, countries that offer more than six weeks’ paid paternity leave have a 4% smaller gender pay gap and a 3.7% smaller labour force participation gap.

Speaking up

Daniel says a major cultural shift needs to happen before things can change. “The more men that take their full paternity entitlement without apology, the less it will seem like such a big deal,” he shares.

He also believes that men have a duty to speak up about the importance of paternity leave. “We need to advocate for it and remind employers how important it is for new fathers to support their partners during this time – and the impact it can have when they don’t.”

“I think there’s still a kind of embarrassment around being a family man, and we need to shift that.”

Fortunately, it appears that change may already be afoot. Julie notes that, in recent times, many companies have chosen to provide fully paid paternity leave entitlements which go beyond the minimum standard and allow for greater flexibility with when leave is taken.

“Naturally there can be times in the business where it is not ideal for an employee to take any leave; annual leave or paternity leave,” says Julie. However, employers must remember this is a legal entitlement and failure to provide the benefit could instigate a claim before the Workplace Relations Commission. Ideally a father should, in the same way as a mother must,  inform the employer of the expected date of leave and employers should allow flexibility around this. We all know that babies come in their own time.”

She reiterates that: “Under Irish law, an employer cannot penalise, or threaten to penalise an employee who proposes to or takes their entitled paternity leave.”

She also notes that Parent’s Benefit will be extended to nine weeks from August 2024. “This will give fathers 11 weeks of State paid leave, which can be used in the first few weeks of a child’s birth or at any point up to the age of two.”

It’s promising, and a development that will hopefully give rise to a culture where we see the father’s time off with their child recognised as not only valuable but vital. A culture where we realise that parenting is not primarily the woman’s job, but a team effort, and to be a part of that team, men need to feel supported to take time off.

In doing so, this can positively impact the gender pay gap and reduce potential discrimination against women when it comes to hiring and promotion.