Parental leave
Employees are entitled to parental leave which is time off work during the first 18 years of their child’s life. The leave is intended to allow the employee to look after a child or to make arrangements for the good of the child and need not be related to the child’s health. This section details the entitlement to parental leave, who can take it, when and for how long.
Parental leave should not be confused with shared parental leave which is an entitlement for eligible parents of children due to be born or adopted on or after 5 April 2015 to share leave and pay.
What is parental leave?
Parental leave is a parents right to take time off work any time up to their child’s 18th birthday. Before 5 April 2015, the right only extended to those parents with children under five years old but this was then changed to also include those parents with a child or children under the age of 18. . The leave is intended for looking after a child or to make arrangements for the good of the child and need not be related to the child’s health. Parental leave is an individual right and both men and women are entitled to it. The leave cannot be swapped between parents.
Parental leave should not be confused with shared parental leave which is an entitlement for eligible parents of children due to be born or adopted on or after 5 April 2015 to share leave and pay.
An employee can take parental leave in addition to maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
The legislation that gives employees the right to take parental leave is not completely prescriptive about how this should be applied. Employers have a degree of flexibility as to how they arrange a parental leave scheme for their employees but this must be established as part of employees’ contracts of employment by way of a collective or workforce agreement. Employees will still be entitled to certain minimum rights. In the absence of an employer scheme, the legislation puts in place a default scheme that all eligible employees are entitled to.
Who is entitled to parental leave?
Only employees (i.e. individuals engaged under a contract of employment) are entitled to take parental leave.
Unless the employer has a separate scheme that has been agreed by its staff, employees need to satisfy the following qualifying conditions:
- have one year’s continuous service; and
- be the parent named on the birth certificate and,of a child under the age of 18; or
- have adopted a child under the age of 18; or
- have acquired formal parental responsibility for a child under the age of 18.
What is the entitlement?
The entitlement is 18 weeks’ leave for each of the employee’s children under the age of 18. Part-time employees are entitled to leave in proportion to the amount of time they work. For multiple births an employee is entitled to 18 weeks in respect of each child.
Employees cannot take off more than four weeks during a year. Leave may be taken in blocks of one week or more although part of a week will count as one week out of the total 18-week entitlement.
Disabled children: Parents of disabled children are entitled to up to 18 weeks parental leave and they are able to use their leave up until the child’s 18th birthday. They may also take leave in blocks of one day or multiples of a day.
What notice must the employee give?
The employee must give a minimum of 21 days’ notice. It need not be in writing but the employer can ask for it to be.
The employer must reply to the request for leave in writing within a period of seven days from receipt of the notice to take leave.
The employer can request proof of the child’s age or adoption. However, it would not be appropriate to request this every time leave is requested, or to request documents other than the birth certificate or adoption papers.
Can I postpone my employee taking leave?
The employer can postpone leave to an agreed date or a suitable future period (but for no more than six months) where the needs of the business, taking into account the size of the organisation, or the quality of service, make this necessary. If the leave is postponed beyond the five-year limit, the parent still has the right to take it.
The employer cannot postpone leave where the employee is the father of the child in respect of whom the leave is to be taken, and the period of leave is to begin on the date on which the child is born. Provided the employee gives notice which specifies the expected week of childbirth and the duration of the period of leave and notice is given at least 13 weeks before the beginning of the expected week of childbirth.
If the employer postpones leave unreasonably, the employee can bring a claim in an Employment Tribunal.
Do I have to keep records?
No, record-keeping is not required by law although the employer will want to keep records as the entitlement is 18 weeks in respect of an employee regardless of whether they change employers, and it is likely that any future employers will ask the previous employer for information about how much leave they have taken so far.
What if an employee tries to take leave when they are not entitled?
If an employee tries to take parental leave dishonestly the employer can deal with him/her under ordinary disciplinary procedures.
What are the rights during parental leave?
During the period of leave an employee will remain employed but need not be paid. Neither the employer nor the employee will be bound by any contractual terms except those of good faith and confidentiality and any terms and conditions of employment relating to:
- notice of the termination of the employment contract by her employer;
- compensation in the event of redundancy; or
- disciplinary or grievance procedures.
Does the employee have a right to return to work?
An employee is entitled to return to employment with his or her employer following a period of parental leave. The exact terms on which the employee returns to work will depend on the leave they have taken.
Broadly speaking, if the employee has taken parental leave of four weeks or less in isolation or, if taken with other statutory leave, the parental leave has not been taken with additional maternity or additional adoption leave, the employee is entitled to return to the same job he or she was in before taking the parental leave.
If the employee takes parental leave of more than four weeks (for example where the contractual scheme that the employer has in place allows for leave of more than four weeks), then the employee is entitled to return to the same job. However where it is not reasonably practicable for the employee to return to the same job, he or she is entitled to return to another job with the employer which is suitable and appropriate for the him or her in the circumstances.
What if I employ someone new who may qualify for parental leave?
If an employee changes employer, he/she will have to re-qualify i.e. will have to be employed continuously for one year with the new employer before he/she becomes eligible to take leave even if he/she has previously taken part of their entitlement with a different employer.