Parental leave and 30 hours childcare questions

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I've just found out I'm pregnant! Also, on the very same day, I've just signed my DD up for 30 hours childcare at our local pre-school, from September. AND yesterday I put in a request at work for three weeks' parental leave in September so she can have a break between her current nursery and pre-school and to help her settle in to pre-school.

Will this be ok? Will I lose entitlement to the 30 hours childcare once I am on mat leave (spring and summer terms 2020)? And will the unpaid parental leave affect my maternity pay, I'm not sure what calculation is used for it?

Can anyone help please?

According to the government website you can still get the 30 hours if you are on maternity leave here

Statutory maternity pay is calculated based on what you get paid between weeks 17 and 25 of your pregnancy, so to maximise it, you should avoid taking unpaid leave during that time.

Parental leave may be an issue. It's usually 2 weeks, unless your company offer more and they dont have to give you the exact dates you request.

The child care should be fine as you are still classed as employed when on mat leave.

"It's usually 2 weeks, unless your company offer more"

Companies don't need to 'offer' more than two weeks - eligible parents can take four weeks in any year in respect of each child. Employers can postpone it if the dates proposed would cause significant disruption to the business.

Sorry yes its 4 weeks.

But they dont have to allow it all in one go.

Yes they do, if the individual books it that way! Employers can postpone a period of leave but can’t break it up into shorter periods,

Thanks everyone! Good news on the 30 hours but looks like I will be cancelling the parental leave request... don't want to count any chickens just yet but all being well I think my DH will take the parental leave so I can keep earning!

Employers can postpone a period of leave but can’t break it up into shorter periods,

Yes they can, if they have a good business reason

Do I really need to quote the actual Regulations?

If you want

“6. An employer may postpone a period of parental leave where—
(a)neither paragraph 4 nor paragraph 5 applies, and the employee has accordingly given the employer notice in accordance with paragraph 3;

(b)the employer considers that the operation of his business would be unduly disrupted if the employee took leave during the period identified in his notice;

(c)the employer agrees to permit the employee to take a period of leave—

(i)of the same duration as the period identified in the employee’s notice, and

(ii)beginning on a date determined by the employer after consulting the employee, which is no later than six months after the commencement of that period;

(d)the employer gives the employee notice in writing of the postponement which—

(i)states the reason for it, and

(ii)specifies the dates on which the period of leave the employer agrees to permit the employee to take will begin and end,

and
(e)that notice is given to the employee not more than seven days after the employee’s notice was given to the employer.

No I don’t want really, but people who need accurate information might be reading

An employer that wantedtoreduceyour leave, or split it upinto two or more shorter periods, or postpone a period of leave that had already been postponed once,would have to implement a collective or workforce agreement.

Oh I see , my apologies. I didn’t realise you knew the OP’s employer had negotiated a collective agreement to that effect... 🙄

I didnt say they definitely would, though did I?

There are situations where they can.

I didnt realise you knew the ops employer definitely didn't.

You said-

-The employer doesn’t have to “offer” more than two weeks.
-They don’t have to allow it all in one go
-They can split it if they have good business reason.

The first one is never true. The second two are only true in very limited circumstances for the few employers who have specifically negotiated a collective agreement to that effect. You’re making those statements as though they are true on a blanket basis for everyone!

You are right, I don’t specifically know that the OP isn’t subject to a collective agreement stating the things you say are true for everyone.

But I think if there are going to be any assumptions made, it’s much safer to assume that the OP’s employer operates the default provisions along with most other employers, rather than assuming they operate a specific collective agreement...

I did say 2 weeks. Then I apologised, because that was incorrect. Missed that bit, did you?

They dint have to allow it in one go and can split it if they have a good reason.

I didnt make a blanket statement at all. I said it was a possibility.

You claimed it absolutely wasnt a possibility.

You did make a blanket statement - you stated that it is possible for an employer to do that, when for the vast majority of employers, it is absolutely not possible to do that at all.

Oh well. Legislation is there for people to read who might need accuracy.

You stated that all any employer needs to do that is a good reason. When actually, they need a specifically negotiated and legally-recognised collective or workforce agreement.