Family leave

Paternity leave, parental leave and taking time off for dependants are family related rights that are perhaps not that well known in the UK, particularly when compared to those that are more commonly acknowledged, such as maternity leave. However, they do exist and both employers and employees should be aware of the circumstances in which they can be used.

Paternity Leave

The biological father of a child, or someone who is the child’s mother’s partner or husband (whether same sex or not) has the right to up two weeks paid paternity leave – taken in one week or two week blocks. The person in question must be a contracted employee earning more than the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit (£107) and must be employed for 26 weeks by the 15th week before the due date (the ‘Qualifying Week’).

Ordinary Statutory Paternity pay is paid at £135.45, or 90% of average weekly earnings; whichever is the lower figure.

An individual wanting to take paternity leave must:

– Give notice to an employer of the wish to take paternity leave by the Qualifying Week.

– Provide at least 28 days notice of the exact date that the employee wants the leave to begin. This could be the day of the birth, in the weeks after, or a specific day in the week after the due date. Paternity leave cannot be taken before the child is born and must finish within 56 days of the birth, or 56 days from the first day of the week in which the baby is born should the birth occur before the due date.

In order to extend the time period of paternity leave, Additional Paternity Leave may be available. This is where a mother has some maternity leave left over, which can be passed over to her partner when she returns to work. Additional Paternity Leave is usually only available from 20 weeks after the birth and must be taken all in one period. An employer should be given notice of the wish to take Additional Paternity Leave and may require evidence, such as a declaration from the mother than she is returning to work. An employee taking Additional Paternity Leave may also have the option of receiving statutory paternity pay if the mother who is returning to work has not used up all her statutory maternity pay.

Taking time off work for dependants

Taking time off work for dependants is available to employees where sudden issues arise with a dependant – i.e. a child, spouse, parent, civil partner, or someone else who lives in the house and is not a lodger, tenant or boarder. Here UK law allows an employee to take a reasonable amount of time off to deal with something that has happened to one of these dependants, such as an accident or injury, ending of care arrangements, or death.

Taking parental leave

Working parents may be entitled to parental leave – this is a statutory right and is not paid. It is taken in addition to other types of family leave, such as maternity, paternity or adoption leave, and allows a parent up to 13 months unpaid leave in total for each child before they reach the age of five (unless the child is entitled to Disability Living Allowance, in which case this is 18). It is taken a week at a time with up to four weeks in one go.

For an employee to qualify, he or she will need to have worked for their employer for at least a year. Notice should be given (in writing if possible) of the wish to take parental leave, with at least 28 days notice provided. An employer does not have to accept this notice if there is a genuine business reason not to, in which case the leave can be postponed for up to six months as long as the employer relates this to the employee within seven days of the request.

Absence due to this kind of leave will not break employment contract continuity of service and will mean that an employee is still entitled to all his or her statutory rights, such as building up holiday entitlement.