Parental leave is a statutory right to take unpaid time off work to look after a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare.
- Who can take parental leave?
All employees who have a child under five or who have adopted a child after 15 December 1999 and who have completed a minimum of one year's continuous employment with the nursery.
Parental leave can be taken by both male and female employees
To qualify for parental leave, an employee must be named on the child's birth certificate or have parental responsibility for the child under the law.
There is no requirement for an employee to be living with the child, but parental leave must be taken to care for the child.
Examples of how leave may be used are:
- To spend more time with a child in early years
- To accompany a child during a hospital stay
- Settling a child into childcare arrangements
To enable the family to spend more time together.
- How much leave can they take?
Employees are entitled to 13 weeks for each child.
Parents of disabled children are entitled to 18 weeks.
- Parental leave must normally be taken in blocks or multiples of one week.
The only exception is for employees with disabled children who can take leave in blocks or multiples of one day.
- One week's leave is equal to the length of time an employee is normally required to work in a week.
- A maximum of four weeks' parental leave can be taken in a year in respect of any child.
- When can parental leave be taken?
Employees can choose to take parental leave any time up to the child's fifth birthday unless:
- The child is adopted, and then it can be taken at any time in the five years after the child is first placed with the employee for adoption (or until the child's 18th birthday if that comes sooner).
- The child is disabled, and then it can be taken at any time up to the child's 18th birthday.
- A mother can take parental leave immediately after a period of maternity leave, as long as she gives the minimum period of notice.
- What does an employee have to do to take parental leave?
When requesting parental leave, the employee must give their manager at least 21 days' notice. It does not have to be in writing but the employee must specify start and finish dates of the leave.
Remember unpaid parental leave is a statutory right for all qualifying employees.
Jacqui Mann is director of HR4Nurseries