Employment Protection and Family Life

1963 realised a Contracts of Employment Act which introduced minimum notice periods and the right to written particulars, and since then various pieces of legislation have given employment protection rights which are enforced through the tribunals rather than the ordinary courts e.g. right not to be unfairly dismissed and the right to redundancy payments. However there are a variety of disputable individual rights which were created by the Employment Protection Act 1975 and the Employment Relations Act 1999 both found in the Employment Relations Act 1996 (ERA)

Further studies show that to reconcile family and professional life, everyone shall have the right to protection from dismissal for a reason connected with maternity leave and to parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. Regulation 19 provides that an employee is entitled under s47C ERA 1996 not to be subjected to any retirement as a result of taking parental leave.

The first strand relates to pregnancy, birth and maternity while the second strand concerns attempts at reconciling work and family life. Work policies on career breaks, parental leave and part-time work, as well as flexible working arrangements which serve the interests of employee and employer are of vital importance to both women and men.

Implementation of various Directives and Social partner agreements in this area should be accelerated and monitored regularly. There must be an adequate provision of good quality care for children and other dependents in order to support women's and men's entry and continue participate in the labour market. An equal sharing of family responsibilities is very crucial in this respect. In order to strengthen equal opportunities the Member states and the Social Partners have to design, implement and promote family-friendly policies, including affordable, accessible and high quality care services for children and other dependants, as well as parental and other leave schemes without violating any rights/legislation.

Employer's Responsibility and Best Practise -;

• to consider requests properly in accordance with the set procedure.
• to ensure they adhere to the time limits contained within the procedure.
• to provide the employee with appropriate support information during and after the application process.
• the only decline a request where there is a recognised business ground and to explain to the employee in writing why it applies.
• to ensure that any variation with the procedure is agreed in advance with the employee and recorded in writing.