Parental Leave Policy

Introduction

Employees who satisfy the required conditions are entitled to statutory parental leave. This document aims to set out the statutory provisions on parental leave and is designed to be as comprehensive as possible. However, if you have any queries which are not answered or if you have any questions about the policy, please contact your Line Manager. Parental leave is unpaid.

Eligibility

To be eligible for parental leave you must: 

• Be a parent named on the birth certificate of a child; or 
• Have adopted a child under the age of 18; or 
• Have acquired formal parental responsibility for a child.

Parental leave may only be taken for the purposes of caring for a child or for the good of the child, for example sourcing new schools.

Parental Leave Requirements

Parental leave can only be taken before the child’s 18th birthday.  Parental leave can be taken for a maximum of 18 weeks for each child (a maximum of 4 weeks in a year for each child) to be used as follows:

• You may take parental leave in blocks of one week (unless your child is disabled in which case parental leave can be taken in shorter blocks).
• If you work part-time or variable hours you still have an entitlement to 18 weeks’ leave, but a week’s leave for these purposes is the average hours you work in a week (if your hours vary, they will be averaged over a 52-week period). 
• 18 weeks leave can be taken where disability living allowance is awarded in respect of your child, and the leave can be taken in daily blocks. 

Requesting Parental Leave

If you want to take parental leave you should notify the Company in writing, a minimum of 21 days before you wish your parental leave to start and confirm the proposed start and end dates of the required leave. Any requests should be raised to your Line Manager in the first instance.  If you wish to take parental leave immediately on the birth or adoption of a child you must request parental leave in the normal way and, in addition, give the Company 21 days’ notice of the expected week of the birth or adoption of the child.

Information required 

At the time of requesting parental leave you should: 

• Provide the name of the child in respect of whom you wish to take leave, stating their date of birth and your relationship to them. 
• Produce an appropriate birth or adoption certificate or matching certificate, parental responsibility agreement or court order. 
• Produce evidence of your child’s entitlement to a disability living allowance (where relevant). 
• Specify parental leave as the reason for absence and provide the start and end date for your requested leave. 
• Declare any periods of parental leave you have taken with a previous employer. 

Periods of leave with other employers

The period of 18 weeks’ leave is the maximum you can take (maximum of four weeks in any one-year period), and periods of leave taken with a previous employer will be taken into account in calculating this period. The Company will expect you to declare any periods of leave with a previous employer either before or at the time of making a request for leave. When you leave the Company, on request, you will be provided with a statement stating the number of days’ parental leave you have taken with the Company which can be presented to a future employer.

Postponing Parental Leave 

The Company reserves the right to postpone parental leave where the needs of the business make this necessary. The Company will meet with you or discuss the request for leave and attempt to agree with you a suitable alternative date when the parental leave can commence. The leave will not be postponed to a date later than 6 months from the original date requested. If the Company deems it necessary to postpone parental leave you will be notified in writing within 7 days of receipt of your request for parental leave by the Company. You will be given the reason for the postponement and the alternative dates on which parental leave can be taken. The Company will not postpone leave if you wish your parental leave to start immediately on the birth or adoption of a child providing you give the notice stipulated for parental leave as detailed above.

Claiming Parental Leave Dishonestly

If you claim parental leave dishonestly including attempting to claim leave for purposes other than caring for a child, it will be treated as a disciplinary matter and will be dealt with in line with the Company’s Disciplinary Procedure. Behaving dishonestly in connection with requesting parental leave could amount to gross misconduct which may result in immediate termination of employment.

Contract

During parental leave your contract of employment will continue but there are very few contractual obligations which operate during this period. You will, however, remain entitled to the benefit of the Company’s implied obligation of trust and confidence, the terms and conditions relating to notice of dismissal, statutory entitlements in the event of redundancy and the Company’s disciplinary and grievance procedures. The terms of your employment contract should be adhered to in relation to giving notice on resignation, disclosure of confidential information and participation in any other business.

Returning to Work Contractual benefits

If your parental leave is for a period of four weeks or less, you are entitled to return to work in the same position as you held before commencing leave. Your terms and conditions of employment will be no less favourable than they would have been if you had not been absent on parental leave. This also applies where you add on up to four weeks’ parental leave to follow another type of leave, provided that other type of leave is not additional maternity leave or additional adoption leave. If your parental leave is for a longer period than four weeks (spanning two parental leave years) or it immediately follows a period of additional maternity or additional adoption leave and it is not reasonably practicable to allow you to return into the same position, you may be given another suitable and appropriate job, on terms and conditions that are no less favourable.

Returning to work on a flexible basis

If you wish to change your working patterns (such as working part time or changing your place of work) after any period of parental leave, you should notify the Company in writing of your wish to do so in accordance with the requirements set out in the Company’s Flexible Working Policy. There is no absolute right to insist on working part time, but the Company will try to accommodate your wishes unless there is a justifiable reason for refusal, bearing in mind the needs of the business. It is helpful if requests are made as early as possible. The procedure for dealing with such requests is set out in the Company’s Flexible Working Policy.

Deciding not to return to work If you decide not to return to work, then you should notify the Company as soon as possible and confirm such in writing. You must provide the Company, as a minimum, with your contractual notice period, however as much notice as possible would be appreciated.

Too unwell to return to work

If you cannot return to work because you are ill, you need to comply with the Company’s notification procedures for sickness absence.