Parental leave

Definitely try the worst then can do is say no. Also I think the more people make these requests, the more it shifts the dial within organisations.

I think you should still try! 6 weeks notice is plenty. Ask to know the ‘significant reason’ and the serious disruption your absence would cause, if they say no, in light of the fact that they are continually refusing your requests for AL & PL

Only 2 people are allowed leave at any one time where I work, in a team of 9.
It is difficult to ensure that everyone can have time off in the summer using annual leave.

If PL is added to the mix, some team members would not be able to use their annual leave over the peak summer period, but the person using PL AND annual leave would have had the whole of August off.

Did you really put a request for leave in 2 weeks ago for leave for this Summer ? You cannot be surprised it was postponed. You could try contacting your union.

I have only ever put in one request for parental leave for time off during my then 16yos GCSEs, that most enormous fuss was made, in the event the GCSEs were cancelled (2020) so I must have put the request in before March.

Next year I would do it when the leave year opens so either 1st week of January or 1st Week of April depending on your contract.

Sure, agree. Ultimately all leave whether AL or PL causes disruption, because there is one less person to do the work! But it feels like a lot of organisations are using a lower threshold for PL than the SERIOUS disruption, that is stipulated. On the basis that they know no one can really quantify.

Agreed - I am just pointing out that while it has to be granted it doesn’t necessarily have to be granted when you want it. I don’t personally think that’s right.

Only if it will cause serious disruption. Disappointing that a business would have a blanket policy rather than review on a case by case basis, that is against the spirit of the policy.

Annual leave for school holidays normally requested as soon as the holiday leave period starts
I consider all requests but have not been able to grant one in the school holidays to date
I think it would cause friction among the staff if someone could not get annual leave because someone else had AL and PL during the school holidays

But if a parental leave request came in before an annual leave request for the same period, you should consider it fairly.

It is certainly not discriminatory

They only have the right to push it if there's a business impact, not on a whim. I'm lucky to work somewhere where the majority of people don't have school age DC. It does seem discriminatory never to allow it in any school holidays and I think given it's intended specifically for spending time with DC you would have a good argument against the decision, if you put in a request very far in advance.

We have so many staff off on the school holidays we simply cannot have any more off
We are complying with our legal obligations

The problem is the employer does have that right, and that’s why it isn’t an automatic solution either for childcare or for a child being unwell. It’s so frustrating the way it is always pushed on here.

When you first tried and booked the annual leave, were there other people already booked off or do your company have certain times of the year you cant have leave?

@Motheranddaughter what business are you in that you can say it would always cause severe business disruption to grant it during that time?

@Birthdaycake369 It can only be postponed if there is a good business reason for doing so, they also need to tell you the reason, they also need to respond within 7 days in writing if it's a no.

I would ask for two weeks now, but as a PP said, just tell them rather than asking (don't mention the need for them to respond within 7 days).

But, yes regarding the holiday, it's a bit late now. Ultimately, you may just need to look for another job that is more flexible for holidays.

You don’t grant any parental leave during school holidays?! When do you expect parents to take it if not school holidays?!

If they are going to be awkward, patch fill parental leave to another school holiday, and take annual leave in the interim.

Also I've got more assertive with telling politely, rather than asking permission.

In my work you need to arrange cover, so a few of us who were parents or had other care responsibilities would cover each other.

I suppose if there are lots of people taking annual leave in the school holidays then it might leave them short staffed if you go off on PL
We have never granted it in school holidays for that reason

If they turned you down for annual leave, it can't be that surprising that you also got turned down for parental leave.

I thought it was known that if you want time off during school.holidays, Christmas etc you need to get it booked in early or others will take it

@TheLovleyChebbyMcGee parental leave is unpaid and you can have up to 18 weeks per child until they’re 18, a maximum of 4 weeks a year. It has to be taken in whole weeks.

OP there’s lots to unpack here, as @Gizlotsmum asks, what’s the general situation with leave bookings? You need to give at least 21 days notice but requests can only be denied/postponed if there is a significant reason, like serious disruption to business. What reason did they give for postponing your last request?

You should not need to give huge amounts of notice for parental leave, the statutory policy states 21 days. That being said, it sounds like your employer is being difficult so I’d be aiming to give more to avoid them having a reason to postpone. Did you ask your employee WHY they postponed it, they need to have a ‘significant reason’ ie would cause ‘serious disruption to the business’. I would perhaps remind them of this when you request it.

With annual leave it sounds like they are being unreasonable, assuming you are requesting this within the timeframe stated within the policy, and if it was me I would flag to my manager and then escalate if not happy with the response, pointing out how many times it has been refused despite being requested within the stipulated timeframe. AL is supposed to be in line with YOUR convenience not theirs!

Parental Leave is always unpaid but, yes, you are only entitled to a maximum of 18 weeks per child during their childhood (up at age 18).

Irrespective of whether you’re requesting AL or PL, I’d agree with PP in that your chances of success are dependent on when you’re submitting your request. Doing so now for the summer holidays that start for most in less than a week is, with kindness, silly by anyone’s standards. It’s not like the summer holidays come as a shock to anyone!

Maybe, rather than submitting requests for leave blindly, request a meeting / chat with your manager to agree some dates that you can take? If nothing else, it’ll spare you any disappointment.