Parental leave and quitting job

Hello,
I hope I am posting this in the right place. I have a question about parental leave.
My wife is currently on parental leave and wants to hand in her notice to quit the job (she is being bullied but dont want the hassle of taking action against it). Is she entitled to hand in her notice while on parental leave (it lasts 7 more weeks and she has to give 4 weeks notice) or can they cancel the leave and force her to come in and work out her notice? I think she will fall to pieces if they try to get her to do that.
Thanks for any advice.

You cannot tie your hands like this and expect miracles.

Perhaps if she finishes the leave and then resigns, she could make a referral to a Rights Commissioner over the bullying in the workplace, where her dignity is not being supported, should the employer try to force her to work out the months notice.

I'd talk to a [broken link removed] informally and be aware of your [broken link removed] under the law.

Hi Ong,
Thanks for the reply. I know we should fight the bullying, but just cant face it. Much prefer to just be out of the place.
Really just need to know if she can or cant hand in notice while on parental leave.

I always understood that one cannot be forced to work in Ireland, regardless of notice period in a contract. Not sure of the source of this though, I seem to remember it has something to do with prevention of slavery.

Consider the employers options if she refuses to work:

1) He would need a court injunction. Unlikely he would go to this bother and unlikely courts would intervene in an employer/employee contract.
2) He could sue her for breach of contract and seek to recover financial losses he incurred as a result of her refusal to work. How realistic is it that he would do this and how likely that the courts would listen to them?

I don't see how her employer can make her work her notice if it falls within her parental leave.

Unless the bully happens to be the business owner, she should really find some way to let the employer know about what's happening. It is going to keep happening unless she says something. This doesn't mean taking on a big fight, or not resigning as planned, but she should let somebody in power know her reasons for resigning.

+1 what complainer says as a minimum.

There is a [broken link removed] in place to deal with bullying

You may report breaches of employment rights to [broken link removed] with anonymity guaranteed.

Sorry to hear of your partner's ordeal. Is the bullying still going on whilst she is on parental leave or was it occurring beforehand and hasn't been experienced since going on parental leave?
I would think if it's the latter to return to work when the leave ends in 7 weeks and then see how things go, if they haven't improved then hand in notice and do not work the notice.

If she explains the situation to her GP, they will certify her as unfit to work for the duration of her notice period. They may also offer her advice on coping.

Just hand in the notice, if they look for her to go back, then get the cert.
Leo

Unfortunately the code of practice against bullying and what actually happens when you report bulling are 2 very differnt things and I can understand the OPs desire to just avoid the enormous fight it will inevitably lead to and the stress it will bring them and probably depression so best out of situation probably.
She is not being paid while on Parental leave which differs it from maternity leave (if company nice enough to pay) so I really can't see why she can't. They might tell her come in but she could then get the GP cert mentioned aobve or she could approach HR and say either you let me leave immediately with no fuss or I bring this to NERA etc. and make all our lives difficult. I'm sure they are rational beings.

the code of practice against bullying and what actually happens when you report bulling are 2 very differnt things

Click to expand...

+1
Suggest all those who are insisting on reporting bullying, quoting codes of practice and the Rights Commissioner should first declare if they have been through the process themselves.