Parental Leave
The Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations came
into force on 10th January 2002.
Parental leave provides a right for parents to take time off
work to look after their children. The right now given is :-
- Unpaid.
- Available to parents whose child was under five as at 15 December
1999.
- Available to any employee who has one years qualifying service
at the time parental leave is to be taken. For those whose child
was under five as at 15th December 1999 qualifying service with
a previous employer will count.
- Available to mothers, fathers and those with “parental
responsibility”
- An entitlement to a total of thirteen weeks parental leave
for each child per parent or eighteen weeks in respect of a
disabled child.
A right which may be taken at any time :-
Upto the child’s 5th birthday or for a child with a disability
up to the child’s 18th birthday.
Parental leave may be postponed by an employer for up to six
months if the employer considers the employee’s absence would
unduly disrupt the business if taken at the time requested. An
employee wishing to take parental leave must give his or her employer
twenty one days notice and a maximum of four weeks parental leave
a year may be taken in respect of any one child. Generally, parental
leave must be taken in blocks of a minimum of one week.
Holiday will continue to accrue during parental leave and, except
for pay, the employees Terms and Conditions of Employment continue
to apply.
At the end of parental leave, an employee has the right to return
to the same job he or she was employed in before their absence
provided the period of leave was four weeks or less.
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