Unpaid parental leave

[Tempjob]

I've been employed nearly 4 years. My contract is ending end of August this year. I have taken 4 weeks of unpaid parental leave in summer 2017 and 4 weeks in May/July/October 2018. For 2020 I would like to take 4 weeks of unpaid parental leave in April/May and July.

My employer has said that as my contact is ending in August, I should only get a pro-rata amount of unpaid leave. Similar to annual leave which is April-April, my employer is saying that unpaid parental leave uses the same timeframe and therefore they only want to give me a week or so. No dates are mentioned in our organisation's policy so wantes to check what people would advise?

What age is your child/children? You only get 18 weeks for each child up until age 18. Why use the majority of it over just 3 years?

Your employer lets you take this like unpaid holiday? Surely it's there for unforeseen emergencies - sickness, last minute no childcare etc?

Or are you the poster who wanted to take parental leave for a 17 year old?

It is unpaid holiday that everyone is entitled to but its limited to 18 weeks up until the child is 18. It has be taken in blocks of at least 1 week so not just a day here and there

Maybe you are thinking of emergency dependants leave?

There's no suggestion that it's pro-rata based on the government guidelines. You don't accrue it in the same way as annual leave. You have a set amount per child. They can delay it by up to 6 months though so if you want time off in July and your contract ends in August, I don't think they have to grant you the leave.

@InkogKneeToe you're confusing two different types of parental leave, one if for emergencies and one if booked in advance. The OP is talking about the latter.

Thanks all.

To answer questions, children's ages are 7 and 9 (one is a disabled child). We are on our knees with child's health and meltdowns and we will not survive the summer if I cannot take the time off.

Hi OP parental leave is a statutory right and doesn't fit in with employers' internal policies around holiday/pro rating/etc. You do need to take it in blocks of a week. Your employer is wrong (although they can in certain circumstances defer leave but they need to be careful in doing this) - this is a good summary

Just a thought, depending on when in august your contract ends - would it be that different from a financial perspective if you handed your notice in early so you finish in july?

Could the children's father take unpaid leave instead of you?

If are receiving DLA you can take less than a week at a time, a day if you want.

I would ask for a copy of his policy. If he does not have one that the default will come into play ie 4 weeks

I think you use some parental leave and some holiday along with your husbands parental leave and holiday pay if he produces said policy

Thanks all again.

To answer the questions:

I'll be due some redundancy pay when the contract ends (around £1.5k) so I was hoping to work till the end of the contract. Resigning may also influence what benefits are on offer etc.

My partner has already taken all unpaid parental leave.

Mrs Fogi - thanks for the link. Very interesting.

They are making you redundant and they won't let you take unpaid leave to spend time with your disabled child?

What a bunch of twats.