| Topic Index |
|---|
| Overview |
| Eligibility |
| Length of leave |
| Default scheme |
| Rights during and after parental leave |
| Remedies |
| Resources |
Overview
- Qualifying parents have the right to unpaid leave of up to 13 weeks which must be taken before the child's 5th birthday.
- If the child is disabled, leave is 18 weeks and must be taken before the child's 18th birthday.
- Only employees, and not other workers, qualify for parental leave.
- Parental leave is available to both parents.
- There is a default/fallback scheme which applies if employers have not concluded an individual, workforce or collective agreement on parental leave.
Eligibility
- Employees must:
- have 1 year's continuous employment and be the parent of a child under 5 (or a disabled child under 18) or have acquired parental responsibility for such a child
- comply with their employer's request to prove their eligibility, and
- give their employer proper notice of the leave he or she intends to take
Length of leave
- A total of 13 weeks leave is available to eligible employees - or 18 weeks if the child is disabled.
- The leave must be taken before the child's 5th birthday (or 18th birthday if the child is disabled).
- For adoptive parents, leave can be taken up until the 5th anniversary of the child's adoption date or his or her 18th birthday if that is sooner.
- Leave taken with a previous employer does count towards the 13-week limit for each child.
- Unless a collective or workforce agreement states otherwise, parental leave must be taken in blocks of 1 week, except for parents of disabled children who can take leave in blocks of 1 day.
Default scheme
- Where employers have not concluded an individual, workforce or collective agreement on parental leave, a statutory fallback scheme applies.
- This scheme covers the evidence an employer can ask for, the timing and length of parental leave, an employer's ability to postpone parental leave and notice periods:
- Evidence of entitlement to take parental leave - an employer can ask for reasonable evidence, which in practice will take the form of a form MATB1, adoption papers, child’s birth certificate, etc. If an employee’s entitlement to parental leave relates to a disabled child, evidence of that child’s entitlement to a disability living allowance may need to be produced.
- Notice from the employee - an employee must simply give 21 days’ notice of his or her intention to take parental leave.
- Employer’s right to postpone leave - an employer can postpone leave in certain circumstances if their business will be ‘unduly disrupted’. Postponement of parental leave will not be allowed if the leave is to be taken to coincide with the birth of or adoption of a child provided the requisite notice has been given. An employer wishing to postpone parental leave must give the employee written notice specifying the reason for the postponement and the date to which the leave has been postponed. The notice given to the employee must be not more than 7 days after the employee’s notice was given to the employer. The maximum period of postponement is 6 months and the amount of leave taken after the postponement will be the amount originally requested (unless the employee requests otherwise). The period of postponement is determined by the employer but only after consultation with the employee.
- Maximum and minimum periods of leave - an employee may not take parental leave in blocks of less than 1 week or multiples of that period, except in a case where the child in respect of whom leave is taken is entitled to a disability living allowance. An employee may not, under the default/fallback scheme, take more than 4 weeks’ leave per year in respect of any individual child.
- Employers' own agreements do not have to contain the same arrangements as the fallback scheme on matters such as notice, postponement and amount of leave - but they cannot offer less.
Rights during and after parental leave
- An employee remains employed during any period of parental leave and, with the exception of pay, the following terms and conditions remain in place: mutual duty of trust and confidence; the employee's duty of fidelity; contractual notice periods; compensation in the event of redundancy and any terms relating to disciplinary or grievance procedures.
- An employee who has taken leave of 4 weeks or less is entitled to return to the same job.
- An employee who has taken leave of more than 4 weeks is entitled to return to the same job, or if that is not reasonably practicable, another job which is suitable and appropriate.
- In all cases the employee is entitled to return on terms and conditions that are no less favourable.
Remedies
- An employee can complain to a tribunal if he or she has been denied their entitlement to leave, had their leave unreasonably postponed, or has been dismissed, selected for redundancy, victimised or subjected to any detriment in connection with parental leave.
- Selection for redundancy or dismissal because the employee took or tried to take parental leave is automatically unfair.
- No qualifying period of service is needed to bring a claim and no upper age limit applies.
- Complaints must be brought with 3 months of what is complained of and if a tribunal upholds the claim it can award such compensation as it consider is 'just and equitable'.
Resources
The Policies and Documents section contains a parental leave application form and a parental leave (and paternity leave) policy and procedure (subscribers only).
ACAS
Business Link
Worksmart (TUC)
Subscribers only - 
