A proposal providing paid leave for women who suffer an early miscarriage has been approved by The Cabinet.
This was first introduced by Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke, which offers five days of paid leave for women who have experienced a miscarriage before 23 weeks of pregnancy. Current legislation had allowed female employees to full maternity leave in the case of a stillbirth after 23 weeks of pregnancy.
The policy, known as the Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill, will provide five days of paid leave for anyone who suffers a miscarriage before 23 weeks gestation. The leave will be paid by the employer, at 70% of the daily rate capped at €110 per day, which is in line with statutory sick leave.
The entitlement to leave will be a day one right, while the entitlement to payment including a 13 week service requirement.
This move also follows laws which were recently introduced in Northern Ireland and Malta, and could lead to costs in the region of €10,000,000 per year.
It has been looked at by the Attorney General, as well as officials from the department of Health, Enterprise, and Public Expenditure.
Speaking about this, Enterprise Minister, Peter Burk said the current 23 week threshold: "creates a cliff edge in the law, whereby State supports become available after that point, but no support exists for women who experience miscarriage before this cut-off point" (quotes according to RTÉ).
He added: "By introducing a statutory entitlement to leave for pregnancy loss, we are strengthening workers' rights in a meaningful and compassionate way - ensuring that employees are supported and treated with dignity at a time of great personal difficulty. This measure creates a more inclusive and responsive employment rights system".
Prior to this Bill, The Labour Party and Sinn Féin had made calls for pregnancy loss leave to be introduced, with Labour putting forward a bill looking to give workers up to 20 days of paid leave to recover from a miscarriage, and up to ten days of IVF treatment, five years ago.
