The Government has announced it intends to introduce new employment initiatives including extended parental and adoptive leave.
The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Martin, said today new work-life balance measures were being finalised by the Department of Justice.
He told an EU forum on living and working conditions in Dublin Castle the first amendments would be in place by the end of the year.
The main provisions of the new legislation will include extended adoptive leave and an entitlement to take the parental leave in separate blocks of six continuous weeks.
Maternity legislation has been revised to provide for paid time off work to attend ante-natal classes. It also introduces paid breastfeeding breaks.
"The amended Adoptive leave legislation is expected to be enacted by the end of 2004 with the amended Parental Leave legislation expected to be enacted by mid 2005," Mr Martin said.
He said the Government was committed to making workplaces more family friendly through both national and EU initiatives.
Mr Martin told the meeting that everyone stands to gain from increased satisfaction levels caused by better levels of work-life balance.
Employers benefit through increased employee satisfaction; retention and attraction of staff; increased productivity; enhanced reputation of the organisation; reduced labour turnover; and decreased absenteeism and sick leave.