parental leave denied

[user1471461798]

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?

Parental leave is for the 'welfare' of the child according to the government website.
And the next sentence says:
‘eg to:
spend more time with their children’
Which is exactly what the OP wants to do, regardless of where it will be.

If you don't believe spending time with your child, regardless of where that may be, isn't for your child's welfare then I feel sorry for your children.

It's no wonder people are continuously expected to do more (unpaid overtime) , be available anytime on 0 hour contracts and be available at the drop of of a hat for work.

Employers are taking advantage of the fact a) people often don't know their statutory employment rights and
b) their colleagues think they are 'selfish' if they do exercise them rather than making their own informed choice about whether they decide to or not.

Op has 6 weeks to spend with her child in school holidays, which most working parents dont have, so that arguement has no validity.

bruffin that’s irrelevant. It’s a legal entitlement. You could equally argue that a part-time worker has more time off anyway so doesn’t need annual leave at all. All irrelevant.

In the eyes of the law purple what the OP does during the time spent with her child is irrelevant, if the op wants to spend that time in another country it's her choice and none of her employer's business

Taking it to an extreme - a teacher with 4 children could take 16 weeks parental leave a year for 4 years - nearly half of the teaching calendar of 38 weeks if I've read the website correctly. It would reduce stress levels massively!

Yes running but my guess is if they could afford 16 weeks with no pay they wouldn’t be there to start with? And I think you can only have 4 weeks in a year, not 4 weeks per child per year, to a max overall of 13 weeks per child total.

I suspect this is a misuse of the system , probably was for parents with sick children, not to take cheap holidays in term time.

Yes, true about the salary

I suspect this is a misuse of the system , probably was for parents with sick children, not to take cheap holidays in term time.

If it was for parents of sick children you wouldn't have to give advanced notice and it would state this explicitly. As it stands it doesnt...it does however state explicitly that it can be used to spend more time with your children.

Waiting for all the disgruntled posts about teachers having time off in term time now.
They have enough holidays. Etc. etc.

probably was for parents with sick children,

That's emergency dependents leave. Which is different.

I know the OPs cheap holiday seems to fit within the definition, just, but I can't help feeling thus isn't what parental leave is intended for, and is the sort of thing that partly justifies people without kids feeling they have to cover for parents too much .
I think when they wrote the criteria, they were thinking of parents who got perhaps the statutory minimum 20 days leave, and needed time sometimes for little children.

...not for a holiday abroad in extra leave, when the OP gets 13-ish weeks off already, with a child who has left education, and could potentially have been working in their own job as an adult by that point.

Can i ask what is the difference between me asking for the time off to spend it with my child-as per government website, then booking a last minute deal to go away? We will be going on the monday, my child finishes exams friday before, I have checked with exam board, there will be no changes to dates now. Also parental leave is used so parents can have longer in the school holidays and not pay for childcare, i have seen many threads on this.

Also having never taken my child out of school during term time before, My child has always had 98-99% attendance, would any of you work for 10 months for no pay just so you could cover someone else who may be on holiday themselves. I just wanted advise on how to handle this

Bruffin
It has nothing to do with sick kids. You could hardly give notice if your child was sick and have employers say "no its not convenient business wise this week you can have a week next month."!!!

Read the gov website its really very clear. Op doesnt need an 'excuse' that fits anyone elses opinion on what parental leave is for. The government has made it law and clear.
The fact that so many people on this thread are getting it wrong or deliberately being angsty about it shows what a good job employers have done in hiding this legal option from them.

If it was just for parents with 20 days leave and have small children, why was it changed last year from 5 years to 18 and not stipulate part time workers not entitled to it. I only ever got 12 weeks maternity pay, but don’t begrudge the law changing enabling parents to have longer maternity pay.

running
You can only take 4 weeks a year not 4 weeks per child per year.

Willow, the website says per child per year!

I can’t believe I’ve read the entire thread and still don’t know what OP does for a job.

Cleaner?
Dinner lady?
Acrobat?

Willow it's definitely four weeks per child per year. My dh took 16 weeks when our twins were born. ( we had six dc).

Puppy I would hazard a guess at cover supply.

Have you contacted HR?

My understanding is that they cannot outright reject your parental leave request however they can request that you take it at another time.

With you working part time I am almost sure that the 4 weeks are subject to pro rata - have you checked this?

Although it is 4 weeks per child per year if you did that every year you’d run out of entitlement after 4.5 years.