Babies and Bosses: An Examination of Section 41 of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987

Abstract

Domestic and international considerations rel~evant to the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 (hereeafter the PLEP Act 1987 or the 1987 Act) justify and require the strict interpretation of the central provisions of that legislation. Section 41 of the 1987 Act, if it is to be interpreted so as to ensure its intended effect requires a four-step process to be successfully negotiated by an employer before the section's presumption, establishing the parent's right to return to work after parental leave, may be rebutted. The legislation does not anticipate a balancing of competing workplace interests but holds the worker's interest to be superior to that of his or her employer. Such a statutory imbalance explicitly recognises a worker's independent interest in his or her employment.