Annual Leave
Third Level - In the Institutes of Technology the academic year begins on 1st September each year, and ends on 20th June. In certain circumstances and with advance notice lecturers may be required to be available until 28th June but with the commensurate period off after the 1st September. Second Level - Teachers work a maximum of 167 school days.

Sick leave
Permanent whole-time teachers/lecturers are entitled to full salary during absence due to illness for a period of up to 1 year – 365 calendar days - in any 4 consecutive years. Saturdays and Sundays are counted where a person has been absent on Friday and Monday. In calculating the year's leave of absence, periods of annual leave, during which teachers are on sick leave and for which full salary is paid, are taken into account. Where teachers have notified their employer in writing following the expiry of a medical certificate that they are fit and available for work then periods of annual leave which follow such notice are discounted. See Memo V7 and CL 99/08

Uncertified Sick Leave
A teacher/lecturer may take 3 consecutive days and not exceeding 7 days in a year without a medical certificate. (From start of 2010/11 school year, teachers in Community and Comprehensive schools now have the same uncertified leave provisions as teachers working in VECs as a result of provision made in the last Budget). If a teacher is absent on a Friday and on the following Monday, then the absence will be recorded as 4 days' leave and a medical certificate will be required. Where a teacher is absent on either Friday or Monday, only the day on which the teacher is absent will be reckoned as sick leave. CL 99/08 states that payment for uncertified sick leave may be modified or withdrawn, following due process, in cases where absences are unduly frequent or the maximum number of days is regularly approached or taken year after year and that a teacher shall not take a period of uncertified sick leave immediately after certified sick leave.
See Memo V7 and CL 99/08

General criteria for referring teachers to the Occupational Health Service

1. Non-discretionary:
Teachers who have been absent as a result of illness for 12 or more weeks cumulatively or continuously in a 12 month period

2. Discretionary referrals:
Teachers about whom the employer has concerns relating to their medical fitness for work

Resumption of duty by teachers employed by VECs/C&C schools following paid/unpaid sick leave
The employer has a duty under Section 8 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 to “ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at
work of his or her employees”. The Occupational Health Service is in place to assist the employer in carrying out this duty. The employer may therefore refer a teacher to the
Occupational Health Service, for the purpose of an independent medical assessment, where reasonable concerns exist as to the capacity of the teacher to undertake his/her
duties in a manner that is safe for both the teacher and students.

The teacher will be required to cooperate with the Occupational Health Service for the purpose of providing appropriate advice to the employer. Cooperation may involve the teacher attending in person for a medical examination (arranged by the Occupational Health Service) and/or arranging for the transmission to the Occupational Health Service (by the teacher’s attending doctor) of a comprehensive doctor-to-doctor report.

It is a matter for the Occupational Health Service to decide in what circumstances a teacher may be required to attend for medical assessment. Failure, without reasonable
cause, of a teacher to cooperate with the Occupational Health Service on the basis of a referral by the employer may result in cessation/withholding of salary following due
process.

A teacher intending to resume duty prior to the date specified on her/his medical certificate, must provide a medical certificate of fitness from his/her attending doctor not later than the date of resumption. In the absence of such a certificate, the full period as recorded on the medical certificate(s) of illness will be counted as sick leave. Certificates of fitness furnished at a later date will not be accepted as evidence of fitness for duty.

A teacher may resume duty following a period of paid sick leave of more than three consecutive months, or at a shorter period where reasonable concerns exist, in circumstances where, prior to resumption

• satisfactory medical certification of fitness for duty is submitted by the teacher and
• the employer is satisfied, having first obtained the advice of the Occupational Health Service by means of a medical referral as to the teacher’s physical and mental fitness to resume

A teacher may resume duty following a period of unpaid sick leave where, prior to resumption

• satisfactory medical certification of fitness for duty is submitted by the teacher and
   
• the employer is satisfied, having first obtained the advice of the Occupational Health Service by means of a medical referral as to the teacher’s physical and mental fitness to resume.

Where a teacher is absent on sick leave and has not returned to duty for a reasonable period before and after a period of school closure, the teacher will be deemed to be on
sick leave for the whole duration unless

• the teacher provides a medical certificate of fitness to resume teaching prior to or during a period of school closure and
• the advice of the Occupational Health Service as to the teacher’s fitness for duty has been obtained as to whether the school closure period or any part thereof might be discounted and
• the Occupational Health Service has deemed the period of return to duty to be reasonable taking into account the medical circumstances in individual cases.

Sick leave while on additional unpaid maternity leave
Under the provisions of the Maternity Protection Amendment Act 2004, a teacher, who has made an application for or has commenced additional statutory unpaid maternity
leave and who subsequently becomes ill, may cancel the application or opt not to continue the additional unpaid maternity leave and may instead apply for sick leave.

Maternity Leave
Maternity leave will consist of 26 consecutive weeks on full pay less any social welfare allowance payable on foot of a n employee’s social insurance. This paid leave is available to all permanent whole-time employees and to temporary whole-time and pro-rata employees.

An employee who intends going on maternity leave should submit, through the management authority of her school, a medical certificate confirming pregnancy and stating the expected week of confinement. The certificate must be submitted 4 weeks before she intends to go on maternity leave. A minimum period of maternity leave must be taken, beginning not later than two weeks before the end of the expected week of confinement, and ending not earlier than four weeks after the end of the expected week of confinement.
 

At the end of maternity leave, an employee will be given the option of:
(a) up to 16 additional weeks without pay, or
(b) leave of absence without pay, to the end of the academic year, subject to discretion of the managerial authority concerned. (For this purpose the end of the school year is the end of August.)

Agreement has been reached between the teacher unions and the Department to give leave during the school term in lieu of holidays that overlap with maternity leave, subject to a maximum of 30 working days.

The sequencing arrangement for maternity leave effective from 1st September 2008 are:

• Maternity leave (first 26 weeks – statutory leave)
• Additional unpaid maternity leave (maximum 16 weeks – statutory leave)
• Leave in lieu (under approved Maternity Leave scheme ) in respect of first 26 weeks
• Additional leave in lieu in respect of unpaid statutory maternity leave

Time off may be allowed for attendance at ante-natal and post-natal clinics. Evidence of appointment or attendance at the clinic will be required by the school authority.
Maternity leave will be granted irrespective of an employee’s sick leave record and will not reckon as sick leave. Sick leave following maternity leave will be allowed only if the school authority is satisfied that the employee intends to return to her position when fit to do so.

A teacher/lecturer on maternity leave will be paid full salary by the Department of Education provided she:

(i) signs a mandate authorising the Department of Social & Family Affairs to pay any benefits due directly to the Department of Education.
(ii) makes the necessary claims for social welfare payments under the required time limits.
(iii) complies with whatever requirements are laid down by the Department of Social & Family Affairs

The comprehensive circular letter 11/2011 supersedes all previous circulars, memoranda, rules and regulations in relation to Maternity Protection Entitlements.

Adoptive Leave
Adoptive mothers and sole male adopters are entitled to 24 weeks paid leave and 16 weeks unpaid leave following the adoption and may take holiday leave which overlaps with adoptive leave to a maximum of 22 working days. Other regular part-time teachers may be entitled to unpaid adoptive leave, under legislation effective since 1991.

See Circular Letters 20/97 , PPT 3/01, PPT 8/01

Paternity Leave
Paternity Leave allows fathers to take 3 days leave with pay in respect of children born after 1st January 2001. This leave may be taken at the time of birth or up to 4 weeks after the birth. The same provision applies in the case of adoption. A minimum of four weeks prior notice is required.

Leave on Marriage or Civil Partnership
On marriage or civil partnership during the school year, the teacher/lecturer is entitled to 7 days special leave after the marriage or civil partnership with pay including the day of the marriage or civil partnership and a further 7 days without pay. This 7 days includes Saturdays and Sundays.

Compassionate Leave
A teacher/lecturer may be paid salary in respect of a period of absence necessitated by the illness or death of a near relative. Absences approved by the school authority arising out of illness of a family member, who is certified by a doctor as requiring constant care, and bereavement involving a family member are subject to the following limits:

Five days in the case of a spouse, child or parent.
Three days in the case of a brother, sister, grandparent, aunt, uncle or parent-in-law.

Brief/Occasional Absences
Members in C&C Schools are entitled to avail of the facility to take up to 5 separate personal days leave of absence. Applications must be sanctioned by the Board of Management.
Members in VEC Schools may apply under the terms of Memo V7 - "in respect of occasional brief absences owing to reasonable causes". Applications are subject to approval by the VEC.

Jury Service
Teachers/lecturers are required to undertake jury service.

Parental Leave/Force Majeure Leave
Parental leave was extended to natural parents of children up to the age of 8 and adoptive parents of children under CL PPT01/04 Each parent will be entitled to a total of 14 weeks unpaid leave for each child. Six weeks advance notice must be given. At second level, parental leave can only be taken as one continuous period of 14 weeks or two separate periods of seven weeks or in a maximum of three separate periods with one of the periods being a minimum of two weeks and a second being a minimum of four weeks. At third level parental leave may be taken in a manner agreed with the employer.

Parental leave is unpaid. ‘Force majeure’ leave for family emergencies is paid (in respect of illness or injury) for 3 days per year subject to a maximum of 5 days in any 36 month period. This provision is not in addition to the current arrangements for compassionate leave
See Circular Letters PPT 17/99, PPT 1/04 and PPT 18/03

Carer’s Leave
The Carer's Leave Act 2001 provides for a new entitlement for an employee to avail of temporary unpaid leave from his/her employer to enable him/her to personally provide full time care and attention for a person who is in need of such care. The relevant person must be assessed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs as requiring full-time care and attention. The leave period is a maximum of 104 weeks in regard to any one relevant person. This leave, which is unpaid, may be taken as a continuous period or in separate unit periods, the aggregate duration of which does not exceed 104 weeks.
An explanatory booklet on Carer's Leave is available on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment website - www.entemp.ie

See Circular Letter 17/03