THE Council of Social Affairs ministers yesterday agreed to adopt the EU parental leave directive, which will allow parents to take three months' unpaid leave to look after children aged up to eight, Padraig Yeates reports. It will not have to become law before 1998.
The employer body, IBEC, is urging the Government to allow the maximum time for Irish firms to adjust, with special consideration for the needs of smaller companies in meeting their obligations. Only Ireland and Luxembourg do not have legislation providing parental leave. The Commissioner for Social Affairs, Mr Padraig Flynn, said the directive marked "an important milestone in the history of the Union. The Inter Governmental Conference is getting a very important message today from the Social Affairs Council that Social Europe is alive and well."
The directive has been welcomed as a giant step forward in balancing parental responsibilities between men and women.