Unpaid leave once parental leave is over

amoreno

Registered User
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I have been getting around either 4 or 6 weeks unpaid during the summer holidays. This un paid time was requested as parental leave. My youngest is now 8 since November and I am not entitled to parental leave this year.
I have requested 7 unpaid weeks. My employer says that there is no precedent of this type of leave in the company and that my pension , health insurance and PRSI contributions will have to stop for those 7 weeks.
I have been able to talk to the Pension broker who says it is up to me whether I want to do voluntary contributions spread out during the year to cover the 7 weeks or I just don't want to do contributions for 7 weeks at all.
The health insurance company says i can pay for the contributions myself. I forgot to ask them what happens if I don't pay at all for the 7 weeks.
Regarding the PRSI: i haven't been able to talk to them today.

Any information/advice on where I stand with all these contribution will be great.
 
If you don't continue health insurance, you may have to face a waiting period before cover for certain illnesses comes into effect.
 
Can you clarify if you have a DB or DC pension,
If you have a DC pension, then you got no pension contributions during parental leave. Employers and employee contribiutions are % of pay. AFAIK, even for protected leave no pay = no contribution. Did you get payslips during parental leave, these should clarify what happened.

Do you pay health insurance or does your employer pay it as a BIK ? Who paid it during your parental leave ?
 
I'm not sure about your questions but I hope you appreciate that you have a very understanding and generous employer!
 
The Parental Leave situation in Ireland is a fairly generous entitlement. The Unpaid Leave (which is not an entitlement) and given by only few companies is generous also. The downside is your unpaid leave does not count towards your eventual pension whether it is a state pension or in the case of a private pension funded by yourself. You would be entitled to some tax relief for the period of your unpaid leave.

Purple pointed out that you have a generous and understanding employer. True, but unless you have been replaced by somebody to cover your absence your work colleagues are picking up the (work) tab.

My (fairly uninformed) advice:- Think about having another baby asap. [Don't kill me!] but, this can work to your advantage. Childcare costs are high and I think anybody worth their financial salt should be planning well ahead these days. If you are at home childcare costs can be kept at a minimum. Do your homework and I think you might meet me half way.
 
Having posted the above I am surprised that no "flak" arrived from the "where-would-we-be-only-for-the-working-mother" brigade. I worked for a semi-state company up to a good few years ago. It had a policy (no longer in operation, I hear) that when a mother returned to work after maternity leave she could opt for another special leave option where she would receive a fraction of her pay, but this leave counted towards her pension and did not break service and no annual leave was lost as a result either. Her colleagues would be in on it also inasmuch as they had some say because they were picking up the mother's work load and at no extra cost. The company had some saving on the matter, so it was a win/win situation.

Where I work currently there are people (100% female) who object as far as possible regarding maternity leave, special leave without pay, career breaks etc.

I think there is some sort of mid ground (within workable limits though) where workers can opt for the fraction-of-pay leave within some limits where it can be given. This would allay some of the child minding costs and perhaps allow more effective parenting? And do not forget real team bonding and mother/child bonding too. And for the burn-the-bra brigade this could be made operable for the father also.
 
thanks for all your answers. Huskerdu.I am not sure what DB and DC pension means. I pay half of my pension contributions and my generous indeed pays the other half. During the un-paid leave there won't be any contributions as there is no pay.

I have been granted the un-paid leave (hurray) and have been told that it is a once off situation in my department. So other colleges can enjoy the un-paid leave every year but not me. Animal Farm situation if you ask me: we are equal but some are more equal than others.

I don't know what is going to happen with the AVIVA contributions, thinking about saying nothing for the time being.

Does anybody know how to calculate what tax relieve could I get while on un-paid leave?.
 
DC and DB refer to the two main types of pension schemes that an employer may have in place.

DC means Defined Contribution, i.e. you put in an agreed amount every month, the pension is invested on your behalf and your pension is dependent on how those investments perform. I think most private sector pensions are now defined contribution.

DB means Defined Benefit, i.e. the pension you will receive is determined up front, usually a percentage of salary. You still make contributions to it and they are still invested to generate a retirement fund - however they can be problematic if they are underfunded.

Are you quite sure that other colleagues are allowed to take 7 weeks unpaid leave as a matter of course? Most unpaid leave schemes are not quite so extensive.

I don't know that you get specific tax relief for taking unpaid leave. As I understand it, you simply earn 7 weeks less and as a result pay less tax. I am no expert on the matter though.

One consideration that I can think of. As you won't be paying PRSI for those 7 weeks you need to confirm that you will still be credited for the weeks. I would suggest checking first with your employer. http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/How-does-taking-leave-affect-my-PRSI-contribution-record.aspx
 
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