Time off Work For Every Parent

Some people may not be aware that in the UK you have a right to time off-work for several reasons relating to children. It is called parental leave. But, what is it exactly?

Parental leave is an unpaid time off work to look after a child or to organize care for that child as stated in Regulation 13 of Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999. This time off can also be used to spend more time with children to create a healthy balance between work and family life.

It can be a maximum of 18 weeks for each child- biological or adopted. It applies to all children until their 18^th birthday. The right to this time off work begins since a child is born or placed for adoption. It is a maximum of 4 weeks per year for each parent. But, it must be taken as whole weeks as it has been stated in Rodway v South Central Trains Ltd (2005). The court in this case held that an employee cannot take one day of parental leave.

However, employers do not have to give permission for the parental leave at a time when it can cause undue disruption to the business. Therefore, an employer can postpone the leave for up to 6 months which can be problematic if parents have an immediate need to deal with some family problems.
Although, employers cannot do that if employees want parental leave straight after the child’s birth.

Other advantages of parental leave include, according to Regulation 18(1) MPL Regulations 1999, a right of employees to return to work after parental leave. They can also request change of working hours and ask to be able to work from home as stated under section 80F (1) of Employment Rights Act 1996. They can also start to work part-time, get flexible working time, request term-time working, staggered hours, compressed working hours, voluntary reduced hours for a certain period of time (V-time working).

So, the law in the UK aims to enable parents to work while ensuring that they spend enough time with their children. It is very important that parents raise their children and not only ensure that they have roof over their heads. Therefore, parents should take advantage of this opportunity and spend as much time as it is possible with their children.



Sources: https://greenpinatatoys.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/greenpinata_0017_web.jpg