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Author: Lisa Quinn O'Flaherty (Page 1 of 16)

Employment Law Guide: Postponing Maternity Leave in Cases of Serious Illness


The Maternity Protection, Employment Equality & Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024 was signed into law by the President on 28 October 2024.
The 2024 Act inserts section 14C to the Maternity Protection Act 1994, which allows an employee to postpone their maternity leave for between 5 and 52 weeks if they are suffering from a serious health condition. Ireland is one of the first countries in the world to implement such measures and it follows from the ‘Leave Our Leave’ campaign by the Irish Cancer Society.

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Promoting Sustainable and Ethical Supply Chains

Ethical supply chain management refers to the sourcing, production and distribution of products in a manner that is non-exploitative, fair, sustainable and responsible towards all stakeholders in the chain. This includes the valuing of the human rights of producers of component parts, workers, and communities as well as environmental protection so as to ensure the human rights of current and future generations. Features of ethical supply chain management include safe working conditions and fair pay, local community engagement, minimal environmental impacts, compliance with local laws and international best practice, at all points in the chain. It involves transparency and accountability in relation production, sourcing and suppliers.

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GDPR Considerations When Using Artificial Intelligence

Many businesses are using artificial intelligence (AI) in some form in order to create business efficiencies. Some businesses use generative AI for copywriting, software writing, or employ Chatbots. These programmes work by being ‘trained’ by the inputting of large amounts of data. Other AI in use includes tools to summarise data or to perform analysis. Some businesses use off-the shelf AI tools and others augment the tools with their own specific datasets.

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The Right to Request Remote Work: A Balancing Act for Irish Employers and Employees

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In February 2020, COVID-19 arrived in Ireland, quickly leading to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused one of the longest lockdowns experienced in Europe. The lockdown led to most of Ireland’s workforce not being able to work in their buildings or offices, causing a majority of them to work from home. Before 2020, remote work was once seen as a luxury or a niche option but is now the norm, and the demand for remote work has been increasing since then, with most businesses now offering remote work as a way to cut down on extra costs. Remote work saw a large impact on the legal sector, with most firms still recovering to pre-pandemic operations. In response to remote work becoming more popular within Ireland, the Irish government aimed to establish a legal framework to govern remote work practices.

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