Parental Leave Information

Entitlement to parental leave

• To be eligible for parental leave, the employee must:
  • have at least one year’s continuous employment with the employer;
  • have or expect to have responsibility for a child; and
  • be taking the leave to spend time with or otherwise care for the child.
• The employee will have responsibility for a child if they are the biological or adoptive parent or have legal parental responsibility in some other way, for example under a court order.
• Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 18 weeks’ parental leave in relation to each child.
• Employees must tell their employer of any parental leave which they may have taken while working for another employer as these counts towards their 18-week entitlement.

Taking parental leave

• In most cases, parental leave can only be taken in blocks of a week or a whole number of weeks, and the employee may not take more than four weeks’ parental leave a year in relation to each child. Parental leave can be taken up to the child’s 18th birthday.
• Special rules apply where the child is disabled which, for these purposes, means entitled to a disability living allowance or personal independence payment. Employees can take parental leave in respect of that child in blocks of less than one week. However, there is still a limit of four weeks a year for each child and 18 weeks in total for each child.

Notification requirements

• The employee must notify their employer of their intention to take parental leave at least 21 days in advance. It is helpful if this notice can be given in writing. The notification should include the start and end dates of the requested period of leave.
• If the employee wishes to start parental leave immediately on the birth of a child, they must give notice at least 21 days before the expected week of childbirth.
• If the employee wishes to start parental leave immediately on having a child placed with them for adoption, they should give notice at least 21 days before the expected week of placement or, if this is not possible, give as much notice as they can.

Evidence of entitlement

Employers are entitled to ask to see evidence of the following:

• the employee’s responsibility or expected responsibility for the child such as birth certificate, adoption or matching certificate, parental responsibility agreement or court order.
• the child’s date of birth or date of adoption placement.

The employers right to postpone parental leave

• Although employers should try to accommodate requests for parental leave, employers are allowed to postpone the requested leave where it would unduly disrupt their business (for example, if it would leave them short-staffed or unable to complete work on time).
• In this situation the employer should discuss alternative dates with the employee and notify them in writing of the reason for postponement and the new start and end dates, within seven days of receiving the request for parental leave.
• However, employers cannot postpone parental leave if it has been requested to start immediately on the birth or adoption of a child.
• Employers cannot postpone parental leave for more than six months, or beyond the child’s 18th birthday (if sooner).

Terms and conditions during parental leave

• Parental leave is unpaid and employees are will not be entitled to employer pension contributions in respect of the period of leave.
• The employment contract terms and conditions will remain in force, and holiday entitlement will continue to accrue. The employee continues to be bound by their duties of good faith and confidentiality, and any contractual restrictions on accepting gifts and benefits, or working for another business.