Unit 6 Law & The Worker

This week the module focuses on legislation that provides Protective Leave to pregnant women, parents, carers and people with illnesses.

PowerPoint Presentation:

Please find the PowerPoint Presentation for week six here

This Week’s Reading:

Please find the readings for this week’s class below:

Below are extracts on the Transfer of Undertakings and another on the Maternity Protection Act 1994 from the draft TUF guide:

Week-5-Reading-TUF-Guide-on-Maternity-Protection-Act-1994 (1)

Various IRN articles relevant to this week’s topics:

CJEU says pregnant workers may be dismissed in collective redundancies

Equality award against retailer for failing to risk-assess pregnant worker

Equality claim by pregnant ambulance worker rejected by Tribunal

Manager at Coca-Cola demoted after maternity leave awarded €68000

Parental leave claims backed by Court over force majeure circumstances

Salesforce blamed human error for delay on remote work request

Irish Times article:

WRC awards €50,000 to new mum denied part-time hours

Link for Code of Practice below:

Code of Practice for Employers and Employees Right to Request Flexible Working and Right to Request Remote Working

References:

Prendergast, A. (2018):CJEU says pregnant workers may be dismissed in collective redundancies. IRN 09, 01/03/2018

Fitzgerald, K. (2016): Equality award against retailer for failing to risk-assess pregnant worker. IRN 23, 16/06/2016

Fitzgerald, K. (2008): Equality claim by pregnant ambulance worker rejected by Tribunal. IRN 13, 08/04/2008

Angel, R., 2025. Manager at Coca-Cola ‘demoted’ after maternity leave, awarded €68,000. IRN 24, 19 June. Workplace Relations Commission. Available through: IRN News Archive [Accessed 21 Oct. 2025].

Frawley, M., 2025. Parental leave claims backed by Court over ‘force majeure’ circumstances. IRN 16, 17 April. Workplace Relations Commission. Available through: IRN News Archive [Accessed 21 Oct. 2025].

Angel, R., 2025. Salesforce blamed human error for delay on remote work request. IRN 18, 8 May. Workplace Relations Commission. Available through: IRN News Archive [Accessed 21 Oct. 2025].

Angel, R., 2025. WRC awards €50,000 to new mum denied part-time hours. RTÉ News, 14 August. Available at: https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0814/1528501-wrc-awards-50-000-to-new-mum-denied-part-time-hours [Accessed 21 Oct. 2025].

Workplace Relations Commission, 2023. Code of Practice for Employers and Employees: Right to Request Flexible Working and Right to Request Remote Working. [pdf] Available at: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/what_you_should_know/codes_practice/code-of-practice-for-employers-and-employees-right-to-request-flexible-working-and-right-to-request-remote-working/code-of-practice-for-employers-and-employees.pdf [Accessed 21 Oct. 2025].