SIPTU has called on the Government to introduce paid parental leave from March 8th, when paid maternity and adoptive leave are being increased from 14 to 18 weeks.
Women who wish to take immediate advantage of the extended leave have to begin applying now as employers must receive four weeks' notice.
The union's national equality secretary, Ms Rosheen Callender, said yesterday: "We very much welcome the fact that maternity and adoptive leave are at last to be extended on foot of the recommendations made by a working group set up under Partnership 2000.
"With the improvements effectively coming into force on International Women's Day, we see this as a small but welcome gesture to working women. But we hope that the Government will not be content to simply leave it at that.
"Working parents - both men and women - need a great deal more family leave and flexibility than is currently provided if they are to combine the demands of employment and parenthood successfully.
"Not only do they need paid paternity leave, but they also need payment during parental leave; and these are issues which SIPTU will continue to pursue in the coming weeks and months," she said.
She added: "Meanwhile, women who wish to avail of the extension of maternity and adoptive leave should make sure now that they comply with the notification procedures.
"These involve giving their employers at least four weeks' notice, in writing, of the dates on which they intend to take their leave. If they fail to do so they could miss out on this hard-won improvement on a technicality."