Impacts – effective 1 April 2025
Key changes to childcare:
- Employees will be able to take childcare leave entitlement until their child completes their third year of primary school (currently it is only until the child starts primary school).
- Employees will be able to take time off in more situations (e.g. school closure, entrance / graduation ceremonies) versus the current reasons which are limited to when their child is sick / requires a health check-up.
- Employees with less than 6 months’ service will be able to qualify for childcare leave (currently they can be exempted by the employer).
- Employees will be exempt from overtime (unless they agree otherwise) until their child reaches primary school age (whereas currently this only applies up to the child’s age of 3).
- Employees raising children under the age of 3 must in theory be offered shorter working hours or can agree on alternative measures, which have been expanded to include remote work.
- Employers with over 300 employees must publicly disclose information on childcare leave taken in the company annually (currently this only applies where the company has over 1,000 employees). Employers with over 100 employees must set an “action plan” for childcare leave targets.
Key changes to family care:
- Employers must proactively provide information to employees over the age of 40 about leave to care for their parents.
- Employers must implement measures to prevent staff turnover due to family care reasons (e.g. offering training, providing consultation forums).
- Employees with less than 6 months’ continuous service will be able to benefit from family caregiving leave.
- Employers will need to make efforts to provide remote work options for employees with family caregiving responsibilities.
Effective 1 October 2025:
- Employers will be required to take measures to implement flexible working arrangements for employees raising children over the age of 3 and before primary school age (usually 6). Employers must choose and implement at least two options out of: change of start time, remote working, reducing working hours, additional leave or providing childcare facilities.
What does that mean for employers and what should they do now?
Employers should familiarise themselves with the upcoming changes and update internal policies/work rules and be prepared to implement the options outlined in the act. Please get in touch with a member of the MDR ONE team if you require any support.
