Paternity Leave Notice Ireland (Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016)

Paternity leave in Ireland is a statutory right, but it is not automatic. The Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 makes the entitlement subject to the employee having notified the employer in writing, and a paternity leave notice is that notification. The letter shows that the employee is a relevant parent, fixes the start date the employee has selected and tells the employer how long the absence will last, which section 24 requires at the same time as the notice of leave.

The notice is not a request: the employer receives notice of paternity leave and has no approval step. That is the main difference from a parental leave notice, which the employer can postpone, or a flexible working request, which it can refuse. It also differs from the mother's maternity leave letter, which runs under the Maternity Protection Act 1994 with its own deadlines. The leave request letters for Irish employees cover those other situations. A paternity notice is short by design, one to two pages plus the enclosure.

The governing statute is the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016, as amended by the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2021. Section 6 grants two weeks' leave to a relevant parent, taken as a single period. Only one relevant parent can take it for the same child, and a person who takes adoptive leave cannot also take paternity leave. Section 2(1) defines the relevant parent: for a birth, the father, the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the mother, or a parent of a donor-conceived child under section 5 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015; for an adoption, the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the qualifying adopter. The current wording is in the Law Reform Commission's revised text of the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016.

Timing sits in sections 7 and 8. Notice should be given as soon as reasonably practicable and not later than four weeks before the expected week of confinement, or four weeks before the expected day of placement. An employee who misses that point can still notify at least four weeks before the leave begins (section 7(5)), and where a baby arrives four weeks or more early, notice within seven days of the birth counts as compliant (section 9). The leave starts on the day the employee selects, never before the birth or placement and no later than 26 weeks after it. Section 7 also lists the documents: a copy of the certificate the mother gave her own employer, a doctor's statement where she is not an employee, the birth certificate, or the adoption paperwork.

During the leave the employee keeps every employment right except pay, subject to narrow exceptions such as a suspended probation (section 19). A dismissal or suspension during the leave is void (section 20), penalisation is prohibited (section 22) and the employee returns to the same job on the same terms (section 23). Disputes go to an adjudication officer of the Workplace Relations Commission, with an appeal to the Labour Court.

The classic case is a father whose partner is five or six months pregnant. He sends the paternity leave notice once she has her medical certificate, picks a start date a few days after the due date and encloses a copy of that certificate. Same-sex couples use exactly the same letter: the wife or civil partner of the birth mother is a relevant parent, and so is the second parent of a donor-conceived child. Cohabitants qualify too.

A second group writes after the birth. The 26-week window stays open, so the notice still works as long as the leave starts at least four weeks after the employer receives it. Adoption is the third situation: the partner of the qualifying adopter writes before the expected day of placement and later supplies the certificate of placement or, for an intercountry adoption or where the adopting parent is not an employee, the declaration of eligibility and suitability before placement and the details of the placement afterwards.

A parent who falls sick just before the leave can postpone it by written notice with a medical certificate (section 11), and where the child is in hospital the employee can ask to postpone the leave (section 12), which the employer may refuse. HR teams will find contracts, warnings and dismissal letters among the employment documents under Irish law.

The letter keeps the order of the statute:

• Opening with the formal notice under section 7, so nobody can later call the letter an informal heads-up.
• Your relationship to the child is spelt out in the words of section 2(1): father, the mother's spouse, civil partner or cohabitant, parent of a donor-conceived child, or partner of the adopting parent.
• Supporting evidence changes with the situation. Before the birth, the letter encloses a copy of the mother's medical certificate or, if she is not an employee, a statement signed by her doctor, and promises the birth certificate; after the birth it encloses the birth certificate or undertakes to send it.
• Two weeks in one block, the start date and the return date appear together, which covers the section 24(1) duty to state the length of leave.
• Should the baby come later than planned, or the placement be postponed, a short paragraph records your right under section 10 to pick another start date.

Around that core, the template asks the employer to certify your entitlement for a Paternity Benefit claim and to confirm in writing whether you will be paid under your contract. It records your rights during and after the leave, confirms that nobody else is taking paternity leave for the child, reserves your rights under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 and the Employment Equality Act 1998, and ends with a request for acknowledgement and, for delivery by hand, a signed receipt block.

You start with your own details and your employer's: your name, address and job title, the employer's legal name, and the person who handles leave. The questionnaire then asks whether the leave is for a birth that has not happened yet, a birth that has already happened, or an adoption, and only the questions for that situation follow. For an expected birth you give the mother's name, your relationship to the child, the due date and whether the mother is an employee, which decides the document you enclose. After a birth you give the date of birth and say whether you hold the birth certificate. For an adoption you name the adopting parent, give the day of placement and say whether it is an adoption in Ireland by an employed parent, or an intercountry adoption or one where the adopting parent is not an employee.

The next screen covers the leave itself: the first day of your two weeks, the date you will return and whether you will claim Paternity Benefit. Last come the delivery method and the date of the letter. The preview on the right updates as you answer, so you read the exact wording before you click Finish. Many parents keep the signed copy with their other family and personal documents for Ireland.

The mistake we see most often is a paternity leave notice sent too late. Parents assume they can tell work "when the baby comes", but the deadline runs from the expected week of confinement. If the notice reaches the employer less than four weeks before the due week, the leave cannot start until four weeks after the employer receives it, and the first fortnight at home may be gone. A close second is a start date that falls before the birth: the leave cannot begin until the baby is born, so you will have to choose a new date under section 10.

Some employees forget the enclosure, yet section 7 expects the certificate or birth certificate with the notice or as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards. Others try to split the leave into two separate weeks, which Irish law does not allow. Using the time off for something unrelated to caring for the child or supporting the mother or adopter lets the employer end the leave early under section 16, once it has given written grounds and seven days to respond. Keep proof of delivery: a signed receipt, the registered post slip or the sent email settles any argument about dates. Employers checking their own side of the process can turn to the business templates for Irish employers.