Do any parents use 4 weeks unpaid parental leave each year when returning to full time work?

[ThePoisedOpalBird]

I am potentially getting a full time job. I wont lie I am really struggling emotionally with this as I have only worked 2 days a week since ds1 was born but life is expensive and my partner is keen for me to earn more now my mat leave from ds2 is due to end so we can save to buy a house.

I have been looking at holiday allowance, bank holidays etc to see how to optimise my time with the kids.

Has anyone used a large amount of their unpaid parental leave to take extra time off each year?

I am thinking of using 4 weeks a year to boost my holiday total and increase the amount of time I get with the kids.

Does anyone else do this? Do your employers mind? I figured with holiday allowance of 5 weeks and 4 weeks of unpaid parental leave I would be almost doubling the time I get off with the kids which might help alleviate some of the sadness I feel about leaving them.

I was wondering this. I have two employers on fractional posts (my choice - I wanted more flexibility around school runs etc) so how would that work? Could I take a working week as PL with one employer, and a working week with my 2nd employer on another day, and would that = 2 weeks or 1?

I'm really interested to see how I could use this, I never have and it would be useful. Thanks OP for starting the thread!

I used it every year for the summer holidays for at least ten years

To my knowledge there isn't a central register that employers can routinely check so they'd be relying on the employee to tell them... can't see that happening very often 🙃

Situations like this must be so few and far between it's not likely to cause issue. It is one of the reasons you didn't used to be entitled to it for a period of time and now they've done away with that for whatever reason!

Just a word of warning, I wouldn't rely on it for holidays abroad - use annual leave for that. Employers can refuse for business purposes and can move it for reason at short notice. I only use it for school holidays but not when we're going away, just in case!

No its not - I go on the reaction as it was at the time but also the fact that just because you can get the time off, does not mean you can get pre-planned parental leave when you want it and if she is relying on that, she needs to consider that fact.

She maynot be the only parent and it may depend on whether there is cover for the time she wants as in my example - emergencies are a different matter.

Sorry but if you want time off during school holidays you may well need their cooperation, its not a good attitude - because exactly as you say, they may have to give you time off but not necessarily when you want it. And its the same with your holidays, you apply but thyere has to be cover for them to approve it, think of Christmas for instance.

As an aside, does this mean if people for example take 4 weeks off each year per child, they could have 8 weeks off putting their income low enough to qualify for more benefits?

I personally don't disagree with most of what you say but I think you are neglecting to consider other parents in the workplace that have the same right and whilst they can't deny your rights, they can affect when you execute those rights and so if three parents all want the school holidays off and there are only three in that team, they are unlikely to all get it and that is when negotiating with them and operating on goodwill and mutual consideration becomes a must.

That is not working for a bad employer, that is working for an employer who has a business to run, the world does not operate around our kids and the pre-existing employees may have already requested the time before she finishes her probation - so I am saying do not depend on getting it when you want it, like Christmas etc and be prepared to show goodwill with your colleagues who are also parents as there may need to be some mutual negotiations if parents want the same time off , or the business may decide and it may not be to anyones benefit,