taking Parental leave. Can you still do it while the kids are at nursery / school in the day?

[Meglet]

I was thinking about asking for a weeks unpaid parental leave in the spring but DS will be at school and DD (under 5, so parental leave applies to her really) will be at nursery.

I need to slow down as I'm getting ill and not being a very good mum at the moment. A week off work would do us the world of good and mean I can spend more time doing homework with the kids after school / nusery as I can get chores done in the daytime. I'd rather lose a weeks pay that have time off sick as it would go against me.

Parental leave isn't purely so parents can spend the whole day with their children is it? The Direct Gov website doesn't seem to specify what a parent can do during the time off, only that it applies to parents with children under 5 and to allow them to spend time together.

Sorry for the garbled post. TIA .

Why don't you take annual leave?

It's all used up for school hols, plus a couple of days kept for emergencies.

I was not aware that you had to give a reason.

Depends on ur employers policy. The only stipulation we have for employees is that time should be taken off foe benefit of the children. We would not investigate that or look for evidence, however if you were using it openly for clearly unrelated purposes they may ask questions

I won't be doing anything exciting like going on holiday (sadly). Just to get family life on a more even keel and keep my head above water.

Sounds reasonable but check ur local policy

I'm not sure the answer to your question I'm afraid.

Is 1 week going to really get you on an even keel and keep your head above water? Can you look at your working hours etc and juggle things differently so that you feel more afloat all of the time?

iwish I've juggled my hours as much as I can and I can't cut my hours due to tax credits. This winter is just tougher than normal as my sister is away for a few months and she usually helps out a lot. A week off when the kids are at school / nursery would buy me some time.

I'll do some budgeting and hopefully get a week off in the New Year.

This direct gov link shows the rules on being with the children. Bascially, the leave is for care of the children, but doesn't mean you need to be with them 24 hours.

If you have any concerns, could you not ask for a week of parental leave during the school holidays and take the annual leave another week to have some down time?

aah, stc that's a clever way round it . Never occurred to me to swop it. Thank you.

Great. There we go, I can say I achieved one useful thing today then!