• Employers can – have flexibility to adopt a parental leave policy that works for them and their business, as long as certain minimum requirements are met.
• If no parental leave policy is adopted, a default scheme applies
• Parental leave is unpaid and has to be taken for the purpose of caring for a child
• Parental leave is only available to employees who have at least one year’s continuous service with their employer
• The employee is allowed to take up to 18 weeks’ leave (in total) for each child (this period was formerly 13 weeks, but was increased to reflect revisions to the parental leave directive)
• Parental leave can be taken up until the child becomes 18 years old, but is restricted to a maximum of four weeks in any year, unless the employer and employee agree otherwise
• Employees must give 21 days’ notice if they wish to take parental leave; an employer can postpone (but not refuse) the request in certain circumstances
• If an employee suffers any detrimental treatment as a result of taking or asking to take parental leave they can bring a complaint to the employment tribunal.

Shared Parental Leave – in short

A parent who is eligible for shared parental leave, has the right to bring their maternity or adoption leave and pay period (whichever is applicable) to an end early and convert the outstanding period of that leave and pay into a period of shared parental leave and pay that can be taken by either parent. Shared parental leave can be taken in a more flexible way than maternity or adoption leave. It does not have to be a single continuous period; leave periods can be as little as a week and both parents can be absent from work at the same time.

Shared parental leave must be taken before the child’s first birthday and is in addition to the right to unpaid parental leave under the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999. The right to additional paternity leave has been replaced by the right to shared parental leave.