To ask how you use unpaid parental leave

[yoghurtontoast]

Recently found out about unpaid parental leave (statutory right to 18 weeks in total per child, until their 18th bday - maximum of 4 weeks to be used in any year).

I understand it’s unpaid but it still seems ideal. If you only used one week in a month you’d get 75% of your normal pay which is better than maternity pay in any event!

I’m just thinking of how best to use it. I currently just have DD but we’d like another child at some point in the next few years. I’m not sure if I should make the most of it in the next few years while she is little, or save most of it for school years - if you use it what do you do?

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I think it’s more aimed for emergencies when needed rather than planning around it like it’s annual leave. I don’t think using it how you are suggesting would go down well with a lot of employers.

Single parent - I used one week a year to cover shortfall between school holidays and my annual leave.
Taking a week was just about affordable but it was good knowing it was there if I needed extra

It's not your employer, all parental leave has to be taken in week long blocks.

I don't. I use annual leave if she is really poorly, or WFH if she can cope with me just being around. I'd only use unpaid if I'd run out of leave and couldn't WFH.

I took a week to visit NYC with my DD in the summer before she went off to Uni (August birthday so turned 18 very late).

Other than that never used it - as a single parent I couldn't afford the loss of wages when she was younger and worked in a school so didn't need holiday care. Fortunately she is robustly healthy so never needed to take any sort of leave to look after her. I imagine it's a lifeline to many parents as long as they can afford it over the years.

No that’s emergency dependent’s leave, statutory parental leave is designed to be used in blocks of at least a week (in most cases) and the main purpose is literally just spend more time with your child.
It’s a statutory entitlement and it needs to be booked in advance, not a day here or there. A workplace is not allowed to discriminate against it. Thats like saying it’s acceptable for maternity leave to “not go down well”.

All parental leave must be in 1 week blocks unless your child is disabled.

I don’t use it but someone I know has a good arrangement where by she takes unpaid leave during summer hols but the deduction is made over the whole year so it’s not as noticeable. Unsure if this is just unpaid leave within a FW request or actual parental leave.

Eligible employees can take unpaid parental leave to look after their child’s welfare, for example to:

• spend more time with their children
• look at new schools
• settle children into new childcare arrangements
• spend more time with family, such as visiting grandparents

OP, I used it for a few weeks over primary school summer holidays. I could afford it and there were no business issues.

It was nice to save some annual leave to actually just relax at other points in the year when DC were at school and not permanently be doing childcare or work and running on fumes.

Oh amd some people tack it on to the end of maternity leave. In hindsight I wish I had done that.