To ask how you use unpaid parental leave

I don’t use it, also don’t know anyone who has. I get a decent holiday allowance though and have a decent employer.

I’ve taken a week each summer over the last few years (since both DDs have been at school). We can afford it and it means I can stretch my annual leave out more over the year. I actually really like it, and as it’s unpaid for some reason I feel like I can really switch off from work!

I used 1 week when my DS had chicken pox as I didn't have enough holiday to take. We can only take it in full week blocks.
Apart from using it for things like chicken pox or hospital stays if that ever happened, I don't plan on using it.

It cost more for me to lose a days pay than but DS in holiday club in the holidays and in all honesty he much prefers hanging out with his friends at holiday club at least some of the time.

I'm taking a week's unpaid leave next week, my employer insists on blocks of a week. My oldest two are already on summer holiday and although teens and able to stay home by themselves one of them is neurodiverse and won't manage long periods alone. It means I can still have two weeks annual leave later in the holiday when my husband and other child are off too. I've done it for the last three or four years.

Why were you so gobsmacked?
Many women are very short sighted in the early years of children. A large amount of women go part time which reduced their current and future earnings. No one seems to balk at that idea, yet the notion of 2 weeks unpaid is apparently crazy.

We used it to bridge a gap between paternity leave, annual leave and shared parental leave. Immediately following on from paternity leave is the one circumstance in which your employer can't ask you to reschedule it at a time more convenient to them, so it's a good way to get your DH more time off in the early days with a new baby. If you are doing SPL it can also be useful for the mother to take some if the father earns more, because then you can both be off at the same time but he can claim the higher Shared Parental Pay for some of the earlier weeks. In that case you'd put it in between coming back from maternity leave and going back off on SPL.

I use it now DS is in school so I can take extra leave in the summer holidays. I don't earn loads so it doesn't work out much different between paying for holiday clubs or the loss of income and it's much nicer to be off on leave! DH subs the difference for me.

You just ask and submit as unpaid parental leave.

I'm taking three weeks in August for a big trip. My company stipulate we have to take a minimum of two weeks at a time. They might not allow it as a regular monthly thing. They di have the right to refuse if it will impact on your work.

Note that your employer can ask you to defer it by up to 6 months if it’s an inconvenient time for them. They may say no to using it over summer holidays if lots of others are off then.

Last time I saw a thread on this topic, dozens of folk said they use it routinely, ie a week for each child every year. I was gobsmacked but maybe they were the smart ones!

You can also use single days if your child has a disability.

It's been really useful for school holidays for me!
We use it to go on holiday together.

I don’t and don’t know anyone who uses it.

It has to be booked in week long blocks. It’s 18 weeks per child.
Its ideal for summer holidays and things, obviously it’s unpaid but it sort of give you the benefit of part time work some of the year but full time with full time pay the rest.

You don’t have to use it but it’s helpful to know it’s there
i used an odd day of unpaid leave when I needed holiday childcare and I’d run out of leave at work

If you both work then definitely save it for school years - annual leave doesn't cover school holidays, especially if you want to (gasp!) have some leave together!

Errr, I don't.

As a single mum, choosing to lose pay is not really an option, plus as head of dept, I need to be at work to keep everything rolling.

Unpaid parental leave (for me at least) is for dire emergencies only.