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Original poster

parental leave denied

675 replies

user1471461798 · 03/03/2018 20:23

I work term time only and requested parental leave for 3 weeks as my daughter leaves school this year and we plan on going to Florida as it’s less money than school holidays. Anyway my employer has rejected it , stating I have enough holiday throughout the year. My argument is I am entitled to this leave and have spoken to Acas who agree with me. I should add that my job entails covering for others, sickness, days off to look after their children and also holidays! How do I deal with this?

OP posts:
OurMiracle1106 · 04/03/2018 10:39

Have you booked for just before summer holidays by any chance? Because then I do suppose it would be major disruption. You wouldn’t be in Work for nearly 10 weeks. A long time to not be at work.

Also if you need to take your child out of school will the school authorise this absence?

3 weeks in one chunk to ask for as parental leave for a holiday is quite a lot to be honest.

paniconthestreetsofdreams · 04/03/2018 10:40

3 weeks in one chunk to ask for as parental leave for a holiday is quite a lot to be honest.

Not really. Pretty common actually. That's kind of the point.

Fairenuff · 04/03/2018 10:40

17 year old will finish school after the last exam Miracle so her dd will likely be off school already. It's a great time to go away.

paniconthestreetsofdreams · 04/03/2018 10:41

Have you booked for just before summer holidays by any chance? Because then I do suppose it would be major disruption. You wouldn’t be in Work for nearly 10 weeks. A long time to not be at work.

Irrelevant. Also erm time staff not being in when it's not term time generally isn't disruptive tbh. Hmm

bruffin · 04/03/2018 10:42

17 year old will finish school after the last examMiracleso her dd will likely be off school already. It's a great time to go away.

It really isnt have tried to do it twice to US its not cheaper.

bruffin · 04/03/2018 10:50

The other thing to be wary of is change in exam dates. My ds booked a holiday only to find the dates had changed, Luckily it was not into his holiday but the last exam was the day before he left.

insancerre · 04/03/2018 10:51

Surely your employers have thought about how to cover when their cover person is unavailable
What would they do if op was ill?

pieceofpurplesky · 04/03/2018 10:57

It's like a guessing game to know what you do!
Peripatetic music teacher?
After school sport?
Cleaner?
Counsellor/nurse?

If your contract says no holidays in term time then I am afraid that is what it means. I took parental leave when my DS nearly died and was in hospital. I wouldn't dream of it for a cheap holiday ...

runningoutofjuice · 04/03/2018 10:58

As a teaching assistant in many schools over the decades I have never worked with any school staff who have ever invoked this right. Makes me wonder if it's because it might be frowned upon? Also I suppose staff would be taking their own children out of school to do it. Maybe they are not aware of it? I will pose the question in the staffroom Monday.

AlexanderHamilton · 04/03/2018 10:59

From the NASUWT website

www.nasuwt.org.uk/advice/conditions-of-service/maternity/parental-leave-england.html

ineedaholidaynow · 04/03/2018 10:59

Going slightly off tangent I assume teachers could ask for this leave if they have a young child starting YR and need to cover the settling in period? However, I also assume the school could refuse that particular time period and suggest another, which wouldn't be much use to the teacher!

It would be interesting to know how many teachers use the option of parental leave. I assume most people use it to cover part of the school holidays, which obviously doesn't impact most teachers

Willow2017 · 04/03/2018 11:07

You wouldn’t be in Work for nearly 10 weeks. A long time to not be at work.
She wouldn't be working in the hols anyway so thats got nothing to do with it. You cant take 'leave' if you aren't contracted to work in the first place.

Willow2017 · 04/03/2018 11:09

if your contract says no holidays in term time then I am afraid that is what it means

Other people have done it and op has covered them!
Her contract isnt above the law either.

RandomMess · 04/03/2018 11:25

She isn't applying for holiday she is applying for parental leave, what she intends to use it for is none of her employers business!!!

Their only grounds for delaying is for business needs...

MyDcAreMarvel · 04/03/2018 11:26

Her dd is 16 not 17, why does the whole thread refer to her as 17?

Original poster
user1471461798 · 04/03/2018 11:31

I think people are missing the point of the thread, i’m asking how to deal with this, when they haven’t offered another date and not replied in writing to my request within the correct timescale, I could have changed the dates, but they never offered other dates and my husband had to book his holiday then, or my child wouldn’t be able to go, college, d of e expeditions etc. In reply the difference is £4500, I only earn. £475 a month!,

OP posts:
Fairenuff · 04/03/2018 11:34

Same applies re exams. Her dd is leaving school after her last exam which will probably be in June. However, OP hasn't actually said that is the time she has requested. We are all just speculating.

MyDcAreMarvel · 04/03/2018 11:38

The op has said that's the time she is requesting, it's in the op.

bruffin · 04/03/2018 11:44

How can the difference be 4500. What dates are you looking at?

NoticeBored · 04/03/2018 11:55

But what difference would alternative dates make if you've already booked it?

Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 04/03/2018 12:01

I think the way to deal with this is to go straight to HR for your LA employer. Don’t say anything about covering holidays etc, just the bare legal facts.

  1. You are legally entitled to unpaid parental leave up to the limits before their 18th birthday.
  2. Your line manager hasn’t followed the legally required procedure.
  3. Could they please send you a copy of their procedure for applying for parental leave so you can ensure you are following it correctly.
IME contacting HR is the best way to ensure the law is followed correctly. I knew my line manager would be difficult over this exact issue 4 years ago and couldn’t find the policy anywhere so I emailed my line manager and HR in the same email asking how to apply. When my line manager said I couldn’t take any, the HR dept immediately told her (and me) I could, and said what the procedure for applying was.
BakedBeans47 · 04/03/2018 12:02

I think your options are either:

  1. Suck up what they’ve said.
  2. Put to them in writing that they’re wrong and formally request the leave again. Print stuff from the gov.uk website to show them.
  3. Go anyway. If they try and stick a final written warning then as part of the disciplinary show them where they’ve cocked up in applying the process.
Willow2017 · 04/03/2018 12:24

notice op gave them the option to change dates which she could have agreed to but they didnt. So they had no option but to book them due to dp and other factors.

Work acted outwith the law in not replying to her in writing offering different dates if nec.

Thingvellir · 04/03/2018 12:24

Well many posts on this thread have made frustrating reading!

As has been repeated many times but some still not getting it - the op is not asking for a holiday, she's exercising her legal right to parental leave, she's under no obligation at all to say why she wants it other than to confirm it's to spend time with her under-18 yo child

I had similar issues with my FTSE 100 employer when I took it for the first time last year - many managers just aren't up to date on the law. When I got HR involved it was all sorted with no additional fuss.

Parental leave needs to be better understood, so many people aren't aware of it (and I believe my company certainly has been trying to keep it under wraps from employees so not too many staff are aware of their rights)

OP the advice up thread from flowery is what I'd suggest also, good luck!

pieceofpurplesky · 04/03/2018 12:25

I think that a lot hinges on the terminology. Parental leave is for the 'welfare' of the child according to the government website. A cheap holiday to Florida, imho, does not fall in to this. If every teacher/ta took 3 weeks per year from the classroom for a cheap holiday it would be a nightmare.
Which is why what the OP does has relevance to the question.

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