Section 72A — Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987: Eligibility criteria based on average hours of work and allowing for periods of authorised leave

72A Eligibility criteria based on average hours of work and allowing for periods of authorised leave (1) An employee is treated as being in the employment of the same employer for at least an average of 10 hours a week during a 12-month period (or 6-month period, as the case may be) if the employee is in the employment of that employer— (a) No less than an average of 10 hours a week during that period; and (b) either no less than 1 hour in every week during that period or no less than 40 hours in every month during that period. (2) An employee is treated as being in the employment of an employer for an hour, despite being absent from work, if the employee would normally have been at work for that employer for that hour but is— (a) absent on leave with pay for that hour; or (b) on leave without pay (other than parental leave) with the employer's agreement for that hour; or (c) entitled to a payment of weekly compensation under the Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Act 2001 for that hour; or (d) on volunteers leave (within the meaning of the Volunteers Employment Protection Act 1973 ) for that hour; or (e) on maternity leave before the expected date of delivery of the child for that hour (except in a case to which section 6 refers); or (f) absent because of any other circumstances that are considered by a Labour Inspector not to disrupt the normal pattern of the employee's employment. (3) The hours that the employee would normally have been at work must be calculated— (a) in accordance with the terms of the employee's employment; or (b) by reference to the employee's hours of work before any period of leave without pay began, in the case of a period of leave without pay that started longer than 12 months ago. (4) Week means the employee's ordinary working week. Section 72A was inserted, as from 1 July 2002, by section 20 Parental Leave And Employment Protection (Paid Parental Leave) Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 7). Subsection (1) was amended, as from 1 December 2004, by section 22 Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 89) by inserting the words “ (or 6-month period, as the case may be) ” after the word “ period ” . See section 4 of that Act for the application of this amendment. See section 23 of that Act for the transitional provision relating to the giving of notice. Subsection (2)(d) was substituted, as from 1 April 2004, by section 15 Volunteers Employment Protection Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 12).