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.

Well, an employer may not be able to prevent you from requesting and taking it but they may push it into really unattractive times. They also could easily see it as not being committed to the job and therefore you may be not be put forward for interesting work, jobs, promotions, salary increases.

If you also add any emergency leave or taking time off because your children are ill, you are really not seen as a valuable member of staff and that could all count towards reasons for letting you go.

You say your DH's job is not flexible - girl, you may not even survive your probation period if he is not picking up slack when your children are ill and can't go to nursery/pre-school.

I have a very family friendly 9-5 job, the company is great but it's also clear that I have my job to do and my team has to work together. I currently have one staff member on emergency leave because of death in the family and one working abroad with emergency days off to help a family member with care after a rehabilitation stint with dementia.
That's all doable but I also know that these two will pick up the slack when back again and will cover me if necessary.

If you keep an "I don't care" attitude then others won't be willingly to help out if you suddenly need them.

I’ve used it twice in 2 different large companies. It was fine apart from the fact I wasn’t paid which was a big hit in that month. Also because it’s not often used, I would start the process early.

One idea the company might be open to is 5 days in 4 for a limited period. I did 4 days in 3 one summer.

Times are tight for employers op. You’ve been out of the workplace a while, so perhaps you haven’t noticed, but they are.
Answer me this. If YOU were the employer and the time to make cuts came, who would YOU cut out of your team of 8?

Is it another job in retail? Let me guess, you will also want to "make memories" at Christmas, New Year, Easter...

But she's not taking a flexi-time job, nor a part-time one; she's saying she's going to be taking up a FT job, but will be taking weeks off from the get-go. Either her job isn't critical to the company (and therefore she can be let go easily) or it is. If it is, getting cover for her absences is going to cost the company more than they were bargaining for when hiring her. If they don't get the cover, but dump this on the other 7 members of her team, then I wouldn't blame any of them for not liking her very much. And even if no one "makes" the environment more toxic, spending 40 hours a week with people who resent you is not fun, no matter how "thick skinned" the OP thinks she is.

I take 3-6 weeks every year, zero guilt. It is not a pisstake. It’s unpaid and a legal entitlement

I wouldnt be delivering the news to them. Once I have passed my probation period I would just request some parental leave. Not planning on giving them a big speech that I am going to do it for the next few years.

I wouldn’t do a thing until I’d passed probation. And you’re going to have a tricky time at work if you’re rubbing people up the wrong way. It’s a lot of hours to get through.

Ok. I was just wondering I thought it wouldn't be worth it. As the UC calculation online is what I was going to suggest.

I do now they're both in school - I take two weeks leave a year on top of my annual leave to cover school holidays, prior to that we used year round nursery and only took them out when we actually went on holiday.

Considering my DS has been too ill to go to nursery just twice in a year and a half i'm not too concerned about my partner lack of flexibility.

Not entitled to any UC due to partners earnings. Luckily the free hours make working worthwhile financially.

Yeah I wont be requestion any until after the 12 week probation.

I used 2 weeks of parental leave for a few years in a row but I had been with same employer and really established within the team. I put in for 2 weeks parental leave for our main summer holiday, this then allowed me to use my 5 weeks holiday allowance how I wished, it really helped in the holidays as was able to drop to 2/3 days a week, my work was always there for when I got back though, my team would only act on urgent requests so I didn’t feel like I was dropping them in it.

No it isn't retail. If it was retail I would be going back into management.

If that happens it happens. Its a risk I take going into a full time job.

Some employers offer the option to buy (or sell) annual leave. I used to buy an extra two weeks for a few years - which is the same as taking two weeks unpaid but I could use it more flexibly.

From my days as a manager, I know that sorting unpaid leave is a lot of hassle from a paperwork point of view, so they may not be keen although I agree you are entitled to it.

I take 3 weeks per year as childcare in Feb half term, summer hols and Oct half term. It spreads the cost for me and, because I book it at the start of each year in early Jan, it gives the business time to plan around it. However, I have been with my employer a long time and am fairly senior, and do much of the planning myself to cover those weeks (and do the same for my reports seeking to do similar).

Im a teacher so even though I have more holidays than other work areas, I still use my parents leave. My eldest is 4. Its awkward asking for it but we are entitled to it and your kids are only small for a short time. If you can afford it, go for it.

I work at a huge company and have never used it and don’t know anyone that has. I think eyebrows would be raised at my company if I used it, I think it depends on company culture

I'm surprised so many people are saying 'your colleagues won't like you'. It's an entitlement! - an accommodation that recognises parents of young children are very stretched.

It's tough being a parent of small children in full-time work - if the OP can afford to take it, and wants to take it, she should take it.

I worked in HR and nobody ever took this. I would, no doubt whatsoever!

But if an employer offers this then they normally take it into account and staff teams accordingly.
I know one company who encourages parental leave as part of their work/life balance approach but I don't think that's the norm.

Knowing people may take 8-10 instead of 6 weeks leave means they can ensure the work is covered. Having staff suddenly taking parental leave can cause a lot more problems as work has to be distributed between the other members who may already have their desks full.

We have people taking sabbaticals and team members are offered a chance to swap teams and learn while covering absent employees. it can work but it means you need adequate staff ratios.

People are really showing how toxic they/their working conditions are on this thread.

Yes I have. They can’t say no but can defer it by up to 6 months.

I would be careful using it in the first few years of any employment tbh but it’s there to be used and I used it at two very difficult periods where my employer couldn’t have cared less.