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?

It depends how many dc you have, we have seven.

This thread is pretty spectacular in showing up the amount of people who can't read but have an over inflated sense of their own opinion.

I asked them if they wanted to change dates, but was told no, denied completely.

Ok sorry misread

Term term workers don't "get 12 weeks a year 'off'". They are employed for 40 weeks of the year and then get holiday pay based on this.

You are paid about 45/46 weeks if the year.

Therefore all this "you get all this holiday and you want more" is ridiculous.

Term term employees get 28 days holiday like everyone else and have the same statutory rights to parental leave as everyone else.

And yes a teacher could take parental leave. They can ask for anytime period they want and like everyone else must have a response in 7 days that says a) granted for dates asked or b) granted but these are available dates we can offer due to disruption of business.

You can also challenge the disruption of business.

Do you get any holiday allowance OP, or do you get paid separately for any holiday earned but that you can't take?

Damm phone ...
But thats nothing to do with op who is only requesting one lot of pl in 8 years. Actually as its law its nothing to do with anyone else when and why someone wants pl. The fact that so many people are unaware of it speaks volumes

I dont think for a minute your average employee is going to suddenly want to take weeks and weeks of unpaid leave a year
Its just not economically viable for them.

I get 20 days holiday plus bank holidays, the rest of the school holiday is unpaid, but I am paid over 12 months. My argument is they didn’t follow the correct procedure and now I have to find a way round it. Because I am only paid for 43 weeks of the year, it isn’t very much, my choice I know. But when it will cost another 4500 to go the dates my child is available through th summer holidays, just seems financially insane. Yes we could afford it, but would you spend that much if you could avoid it ?

@user1471461798 did you follow the correct procedure? Did you request specific start and end dates on your original request, or did you just request a period of three weeks? I am still struggling to see how they can flatly deny the request, but I do feel it can fall legally within the terms of your contract which you have said states no term time holidays (which I would assume covers any time off, not just paid holidays). Even if they offer you alternative dates, you said DH has already booked as he's unable to get any other time off, so you still won't be able to go, is that correct?

I did request certain dates, they had the option to change the dates in the 7 day timescale, they didn’t get back to me until 9 days later, I was then asked to fill out a written form, exactly the same as the computer one I had filled in before!, 4 days after that i was told it had been declined. I then asked if I could have different dates, but was denied that too. Reasons being I have enough unpaid holiday so should go then. That is in writing on my form, but I wasn’t allowed a copy. My line manager said I would receive a letter, but I haven’t received one yet 10 days later. I was waiting to get the letter before booking, but my husband couldn’t wait any longer so booked it.

What does your HR department say?

I haven’t spoken to HR, I was waiting to get the letter, I wanted advice on how to talk to them. The holiday is booked now, because they didn’t get back to me in the correct timescale or offer other dates, If I had been offered another date, I would have considered my options, but if they weren’t even able to have dialogue, how can I carry on as if nothing has changed. I feel compelled to hand in my notice, not through choice, but I feel my position has become untenable.

@user1471461798 it does appear you've done everything correctly, and your employer/line manager has not followed the correct, lawful procedure. However, I do think you should have a word with your DH as it appears from your post that he went ahead and booked the holiday after you had been refused the leave!

Hope you get it sorted and have a lovely family holiday, whenever it comes!

I think you might find HR (as you work for a local authority) have a good grip on what you are entitled to and will resolve it for you. As described earlier that was certainly my experience. You then won’t need to hand your notice in.

We did discuss what would happen if they refused it, because my line manager said it would be a final warning, we agreed to go ahead. But I thought I would have a letter setting out the position clearly. We have had a tough couple of years and he felt we all deserved a memorable holiday, it just seemed perfect with my child finishing year 11. I will still be going but if I resign, I don’t want a final warning on my record.

Does your dd want to go? Not many 17 year olds want to go on holiday with their parents!

paniconthestreets - speak for yourself!... People can read, they just aren't all 100% self-serving. I know I have legal rights and I know what they are thanks to this thread. That does not mean I always think it is right to exercise them or that by not exercising them I am being a downtrodden employee scared to upset an unreasonable employer. I also already knew that parental leave is not intended for hospital appointments and the like. Leave for hospital appointments, however, is a type of leave I would never hesitate to ask for and expect to be given, whereas I personally would not ask for parental leave in term time for a family holiday if I worked 16-hours a week in schools during term time only, because I would only be doing that job in the first place to ensure I already had shedloads of unpaid leave every single year in every single school holiday so that I could spend time with my children. I know I would be entitled to ask for parental leave for such a holiday, but I just wouldn't personally do it, because I would think it the entirely the wrong thing to do just for a holiday in term time.

However, the OP feels the family has had a hard year and deserves this break and this is her child's last year of school, so something a bit different and special. Clearly this is enough justification for the OP, so as she is entitled to ask for it without having to give any justifications, anyway, she might as well press on with her request. She now knows, though, that her employer is not happy about it, which is not something she is likely to forget in a hurry, so everyone ends up a loser in this situation whatever happens.

She absolutely wants to go, we always promised we’d take her to Florida, she has all ready planned what we are doing and when! She is starting college, training in animal management and then training in another animal discipline, so this is probably the last time we will go as a family

(NB I also know it is not unpaid leave in school holidays, as the employer doesn't want the employee working then any more than the employee wants to be working then, but since most people work in support roles in schools because they want this schol holiday time off, it works out pretty well for everyone...)

I remember having to teach (for which, direct them to the official guidance) my employers (a major govt agency) about Parental Leave when I first wanted to take it for our disabled son - and even then, they had to be re-directed to the small print that says in the event of disability you can ask for individual days.

I use PL for a week each June to take our son on holiday. We go during term-time as it's quieter and therefore more accessible to him - his school and LEA don't have a problem given our circumstances. Using it for a holiday enables me to give the three weeks' notice that the PL requires - it's rare that I get three weeks' notice of random days needed as appointments and meetings aren't confirmed that far ahead; so I use AL for those odd days.

OP, you need to take this up with the HR department and not your line manager(s) who don't seem to have a full understanding of the government legislation.

probably the last time we will go as a family.

I wonder how many of us have said that before.

Well, you wanted a memorable holiday. It's certainly going to be that!

ivgot
The 4 weeks is just that. Whatever op works per week she is entitled to take 4 weeks at that number of days per week off (although in her case she asked for less.)

@Willow2017 I read the government guidelines and my opinion stands. If I was OPs employer I'd assess the situation and balance up her requirement for a holiday vs the needs of my business and the outcome would be deferral because the business would be negatively impacted and the OPs reason for this leave is neither life nor death. They're within their rights to defer as much as OP is within her rights to request the leave in the first place.

Hereyougo: I wondered whether they could still defer it as they haven’t pursued the correct timescales.