Are you entitled to go on maternity leave a second time straight after your first ends?

Q: “I am on maternity leave at the moment and due to head back to work in May after one year off. Are you able to get maternity leave for a second time in a company straight after your first maternity leave ends?
Is there a period of time I should wait before trying to have baby number two or am I entitled to maternity leave no matter how close it is to when I return to work?”
A: There is no stipulation in law with regards to the timing or frequency in maternity leave rights in the Republic, though it may not be the best decision to take maternity leave so close in succession, according to experts in human resources.
The short answer to the reader’s query on whether a worker can take maternity leave for a second time directly after their first period of leave is a simple “yes”, according to Damien McCarthy, founder and chief executive of consultancy firm HR Buddy.
Regardless of working full-time or part-time as an employee, you have the right to take 26 weeks’ maternity leave if you become pregnant and there are no stipulations regarding taking maternity leaves in close succession, he says.
While employers do not have to pay women who are on maternity leave, if the reader has enough PRSI contributions, they are entitled to Maternity Benefit for the 26 weeks of basic maternity leave, he says. You also have the right to take up to 16 weeks’ additional unpaid maternity leave.
However, he advises the reader to check their contract of employment or employee staff handbook to see if they are entitled to top-up payments during their leave, which would bring them up to their normal rate of pay.
This could be an important factor in someone’s decision to take a second maternity leave in close proximity to the first, as mentioned by the reader, he says, adding that if it is their preference to do so, top-up payments could make this decision more financially viable.
If the reader wishes to take maternity leave directly after their first, they must give their employer at least four weeks’ written notice that they plan to do so, alongside a medical certificate confirming their pregnancy.
Although “quite uncommon”, there are no barriers to taking a second maternity leave directly after the first, says independent HR consultant and workplace investigator Michelle Halloran, of Halloran HR Resolutions.
“I would never have seen that happen, because most women need a little break,” she says.
However, if there are enhanced maternity benefits such as top-up payments from their employer to match their normal pay, there may be terms and conditions specifying frequency or timing to qualify.
“They might not pay for two maternity leaves in one year but as far as the law is concerned, if you’re pregnant you’re entitled to go on maternity leave,” she says.
While the reader is protected in terms of returning to their job, from a career perspective, at least two years away from their work can prove challenging on return, Halloran says.
“Obviously, things will have changed a lot over two years and it will make it a little bit more difficult to get back in stream again.
“If she is interested in maintaining a career while having a family, my advice would be to space it out a little bit but that’s a personal decision for her to make,” she says.
Stressing that it is solely an opinion, Halloran says it may not serve in the best interests of a career, and while some employers may not be “best pleased” about a second maternity leave being taken soon after the first, “there’s nothing they can do about it”.
“There’s no point pretending. They probably wouldn’t be happy that they’d be gone for so long but we can’t legislate against people’s attitudes,” she says.
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