What Rights Do I Have to Parental Leave?

If you are a parent, including adoptive parents, an unmarried father named on the child's birth certificate or have parental responsibility for a child you may be entitled to parental leave.

There are two levels of parental leave:

1. those that are negotiated and
2. those that apply in the default scheme.

If you negotiate a parental leave agreement it must provide at total of at least 13 weeks unpaid leave after 1 year's service (for parents of disabled children the length of leave is 18 weeks)

• the leave applies to children born on, or for whom the employee has acquired formal parental responsibility, after December 15 1999, and to children born before December 15 1999 and under 5 years of age at that date.
• Both parents are entitled to parental leave, for each child under 5.
• It can be taken up until the child is aged 5.
• If the child is adopted the leave can be taken in the five years following adoption to a maximum age of 18 years
• If you have a child who has been awarded a disability living allowance, the leave can be taken until the child reaches 18
• You are protected from unfair dismissal or detriment for taking or asking for parental leave
• You have the right to return to the same job if you take 4 weeks parental leave or less. If you take more than 4 weeks parental leave, or if you take parental leave after additional maternity leave you will have the right to return to the same job, unless this is not reasonable practicable. In that case you should be offered a similar job on terms and conditions that are not substantially less favourable

Under the default scheme:

• Unless you are the parent of a disabled child, leave must be taken in blocks or multiples of one week. (A week is based on your normal working week, so if you normally work three days a week a week's parental leave would be three days).
• You can only take four weeks' leave in any one year
• Seniority rights are suspended during leave, but terms relating to duties of trust, confidence and good faith, notice, redundancy compensation and disciplinary or grievance procedures continue.
• Your employer may request evidence of parental responsibility and, where relevant, disability
• You have to provide notice of 21 days for each period of leave
• Your employer can postpone your leave for up to 6 months by giving you 7 days' counter notice, but only if their business would be unduly disrupted by you taking the leave when you want to. However, an employer cannot postpone if:
a) you are the father of a baby and you are taking leave at the time of the birth (see also Can I Take Paternity Leave?) or
b) you are adopting a child and taking leave at the time of the placement (see also Can I Take Paid Adoption Leave?)

If your employer unreasonably postpones leave; prevents, or tries to prevent, you from taking leave or subjects you to dismissal or any other detriment, you can take a complaint to an Employment Tribunal. Complaints generally have to be made within a period of three months.