The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 14A (inserted by section 6 of this Act):

"Postponement of maternity leave or additional maternity leave in event of hospitalisation of child.

14B.

(1) Subject to subsection (2), an employee who is on maternity leave or is entitled to, or is on, additional maternity leave may, if the child in connection with whose birth she is on, or is entitled to, that leave (in this section referred to as 'the child') is hospitalised, request in writing (or cause a written request to be submitted to) her employer to postpone

(a) part of the maternity leave,

(b) part of the maternity leave and the additional maternity leave, or

(c) the additional maternity leave or part of it.

as may be appropriate, in accordance with this section.

(2) An employee may make a request under paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) to postpone part of her maternity leave with effect from a date she selects only if the period of maternity leave taken by her on that date is not less than 14 weeks and not less than 4 of those weeks are after the end of the week of confinement.