Personal and Work-Life Balance 2021 - Main Results

In this survey, respondents aged 18 years and over who were in employment at the time of interview were asked what types of leave, both paid and unpaid, that they had taken from their employment in the past 12 months. This time period would have included varying levels of COVID-19 in the community, with related restrictions, which would likely have impacted on annual leave, sick leave and other forms of leave from work.

All employees, whether they are full-time, part-time, temporary, or casual, earn annual leave entitlements from the time they start work. Most employees are entitled to 4 weeks’ annual leave each year. This is set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act . More information on the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 is provided in the Background Notes. An employer might give more annual leave than this.

At an overall level, 77.6% of employees took annual leave during the previous 12 months. In general, more employees in larger firms took leave than those in smaller firms. The majority (92.4%) of full-time staff in large organisations (100 people or more) took annual leave in the previous 12 months, compared with 88.4% of part-time staff in their organisation. Similarly, in medium sized organisations (20 to 99 people), over three quarters (76.2%) of staff working full-time took annual leave, compared with just 44.9% of part-time employees. See Table 2.1 and Figure 2.1.

While employees have statutory annual leave entitlements, employment law does not guarantee employees a right to be paid while on sick leave. Just one in twelve (8.2%) part-time employees working in small organisations of less than 20 people took paid sick leave over the previous year, compared with double this figure (16.0%) for full-time employees. Full-time employees, working in larger organisations, took more paid sick leave than persons working full-time in smaller organisations. Of full-time workers in organisations of 20 to 99 people, 23.7% took paid sick leave, while a similar figure (22.3%) working in large organisations (100 people or more) took paid sick leave. See Table 2.1.

Just 11.0% of persons working part-time with less than 5 years length of service took paid sick leave, while just over double this figure (22.9%) of their full-time counterparts with similar service took paid sick leave. See Table 2.1.

There is no unpaid holiday entitlement in Irish employment law. Any period of unpaid leave must be agreed between the employer and employee.

While over one in five (20.6%) workers at an overall level had taken paid sick leave in the previous 12 months, just one in sixteen (6.3%) workers took sick leave without pay in the same period. In organisations of 20 persons or more, one in sixteen part-time workers took unpaid sick leave. Similarly, for part-time workers with length of service of 10 years or less with their current employer, their taking of sick leave without pay was much higher than their full-time colleagues. One in seven (13.5%) persons working part-time with less than five years’ service took unpaid sick leave, double the figure for their full-time equivalents with similar service. Similarly, for persons with slightly more service - 11.8% of part-time workers with 5 to 10 years’ service took unpaid sick leave, compared one in twenty (5%) of their full-time equivalents. See Table 2.1.

Analysis of the data by household composition shows that one in five (20%) lone-parent workers took unpaid sick leave, compared with 6.1% of workers of families with two adults with dependent children, and 3.8% of households where there were three or more adults residing with children. See Table 2.1 and Figure 2.3.

Respondents to the survey were asked about the different types of family related leave that they took in the 12 months prior to interview. 

In Ireland, employees who become pregnant are entitled to Maternity Leave, regardless of how long they have been working for the organisation or the number of hours worked per week. The entitlement to leave is enshrined in the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 and the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act, 2004. The current entitlement is to 26 weeks’ maternity leave together with 16 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave.

With regard to adoptive leave, under the Adoptive Leave Acts, 1995 – 2005, adoptive leave gives 24 weeks’ leave off work to one parent of the adopting couple or a parent who is adopting alone, and up to 16 weeks unpaid adoptive leave.

More information on the Maternity Protection Acts 1994 (amended 2004) and the Adoptive Leave Acts, 1995 – 2005 are provided in the Background Notes.

In 2021, under one in twenty (4.3%) took paid maternity or adoptive leave, while just 1.4% took unpaid maternity or adoptive leave. Just short of one in seven (14.9%) workers in households with two adults with children took paid maternity or adoptive leave. See Table 2.3.

In Ireland, partners or spouses, irrespective of sex, can take paid paternity leave of 2 weeks following a birth or adoption. In 2021, just 1.7% of respondents availed of paternity leave. See Tables 2.3.

Also, for parents of young children, there are provisions in place that allow them to take time off, while the children are young. For when children are very young, parent’s leave entitles each parent to 5 weeks’ leave during the first 2 years of a child’s life, or in the case of adoption, within 2 years of the placement of the child with the family. In 2021, just 1.7% of employees took parents’ leave. See Tables 2.3.

In addition, parents can take unpaid parental leave, although the granting of this leave is at the discretion of the employer. For each child under the age of 12 years, parents can take up to 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave. In the 2021 survey, one in fifty (2.2%) employees availed of unpaid parental leave. See Table 2.3.

In the case of a bereavement of a close family member, one may be able to take compassionate leave, but it is usually discretionary. In 2021, nearly one in twenty (4.8%) employees took compassionate leave while 1.7% took force majeure leave. See Table 2.3 and Figure 2.4.

Analysis of family leave taken by broad occupational group shows that the majority (97.2%) of 'Process, plant and machine operative' workers did not take any family leave in the year prior to interview, compared with 84.5% of 'Managers, directors and senior officials'. Similarly, data analysis by NACE economic sector shows that the lowest take up of family leave was in the 'Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles' sector (94.6%) compared with over eight in ten (82.6%) 'Construction' workers. See Table 2.4.

Respondents to the survey were asked if they have had been refused permission to take leave of any type in the two years prior to interview. Just one in fourteen (7%) employees said that a request for leave of some sort was turned down by their employer, within the previous two year period. See Table 2.5.

Marginally, more females than males had leave refused – 7.5% of females compared with 6.5% of males. See table 2.5.

Full-time workers were more likely than their part-time equivalents to have leave refused – 7.6% compared with 4.8% of part-time workers. See table 2.5.

One in twenty (5.2%) employees in firms employing less than 10 people had leave refused in the previous 2 years, compared to 1 in 10 (9.2%) of those working in organisations employing more than 500 persons. See table 2.5.

While employees have a statutory minimum annual leave entitlement, employers are entitled to turn down a worker's request to take annual leave at a particular time, giving them appropriate notice. Where an annual leave request is declined, the worker must be permitted to take the leave at a later point during the leave year. Notwithstanding this, the survey results show that refusal of annual leave requests is by far the most common type of leave refused (91.4%). By contrast, the rates of refusal for other types of leave are quite small in contrast to annual leave refusals, for example with 2.8% of employees having a request for compassionate leave refused in the previous 2 years. See Table 2.6.