Health and Safety Benefit

Information
Rules
Rates
How to apply
Where to apply

Information

Health and Safety Benefit is a weekly payment for employed women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and who are granted health and safety leave by their employer.

You are granted health and safety leave from employment if your employer cannot remove a risk to your health while you are pregnant, or breastfeeding, or assign you alternative "risk-free" duties. The right to health and safety leave from employment is set out under Section 18 of the Maternity Protection Act 1994.

To qualify for Health and Safety Benefit, you must meet certain criteria and social insurance (PRSI) contribution conditions. Your employer pays the first 21 days of your health and safety leave, and the Department of Social Protection pays the remainder.

If you think you have been wrongly refused Health and Safety Benefit you can appeal this decision.

During health and safety leave from employment, you are still considered to be in employment (this means, for example that you continue to accumulate annual leave entitlement). However you are not entitled to payment for public holidays that occur while you are on health and safety leave.

Rules

To get Health and Safety Benefit you must:

Be a pregnant employee in Ireland who is exposed to certain risks in the workplace or be a nightworker (that is, you must spend at least 3 hours or 25% of your work between 11pm and 6am) or
Have given birth in the last 16 weeks and be involved in nightwork or
Be breastfeeding (up to 26 weeks after the birth) and exposed to certain risks in the workplace. The Health and Safety Authority provides full details of what these risks (pdf) are.

You must also meet the following PRSI conditions:

Have at least 13 weeks social insurance (PRSI) paid in the 12 months immediately before the date your baby is due or
Have 52 weeks paid since you first started work and 39 weeks PRSI paid or credited in the relevant tax year (a minimum of 13 of the contributions in the relevant tax year or certain other periods must be paid contributions) or
Have 26 weeks PRSI paid in the relevant tax year and 26 weeks PRSI paid in the tax year prior to the relevant tax year

The relevant tax year is the second last complete tax year before you claim Health and Safety Benefit. For example, for claims made in 2012 the relevant tax year will be 2010.

How long is Health and Safety Benefit paid?

Health and Safety Benefit lasts until:

The day you become entitled for Maternity Benefit, if you are pregnant
16 weeks from the date on which you gave birth, if you are an employee who has recently given birth and do nightwork
26 weeks from the date on which you gave birth, if you are breastfeeding

You stop getting Health and Safety Benefit if your health and safety leave ends because:

You are no longer at risk in the workplace or
Your employer has removed the risk or given you other work or
You are employed on a fixed-term contract and that contract expires.

Rates

Health and Safety Benefit rates are graduated according to your average weekly earnings in the relevant tax year.

Weekly payment in 2012

Earnings per week	Personal rate	Qualified adult rate
Less than €150	€84.50	€80.90
€150 - €219.99	€121.40	€80.90
€220 - €299.99	€147.30	€80.90
€300 or more	€188	€124.80

Payment of Health and Safety Benefit

You will be paid directly into your bank account, or by weekly cheque. You get a personal rate and may get an increase for an adult dependant and child dependant. Your average weekly earnings do not affect the rate of payment for a child dependant.

How to apply

To get this benefit you must fill in a Health and Safety Benefit application form (pdf) and send it to the Health and Safety Benefit Section (see 'Where to apply' below).

You must complete parts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

Your employer must fill in, sign and stamp part 4.

Your GP must fill in, sign and stamp part 8.

Where to apply