Does anyone know anything about Parental Leave? Can you tag it onto the end of additional maternity leave?

[SpookyBearistheSpookyBear]

I want to do anything I can to extend my maternity leave, which runs out soon.

Thanks.

My employer allowed me to have 4 weeks unpaid leave every year so I just stuck this on the end.

thanks Sarah Lou. I'm just drafting my letter to work...

Employees with at least one year of service are entitled to 13 weeks' unpaid parental leave for each child, which can be taken before their child is five, and if agreed can be added to normal maternity leave. Leave must be taken in blocks or multiples of one week. This leave entitlement applies per child.

You would need to be very sure that you don't want to rely on it in futurwe years because once its used, there is no more rights.

Hi spooky, yes you can tag it on. You have to take it in blocks of one or more weeks, but can only take 4 weeks in any single year in respect of each child.
Your employer can postpone it for up to 6 months if your absence will 'unduly disrupt the business' though.

Have a look here for more information.

I've just asked for a weeks parental leave from my employer. I don't know if it's just them (local authority) but it has pension and holiday implications that I wasn't aware of initially (i.e. you don't accrue annual leave during it)

Wish I'd thought of using some to extend my maternity leave - oh well - too late now!

please see below official guidance on terms and conditions including annual leave accrual during parental leave - not quite accurate to say you don't get annual leave.

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2.5 Terms and conditions during parental leave

Some terms and conditions of employment continue to apply during periods of parental leave. These are set out below.

An employee is entitled to benefit from his or her employer?s implied obligation to him or her of trust and confidence during parental leave, and any contractual terms and conditions relating to:

notice periods;

any compensation if the employee is made redundant;

the business' disciplinary or grievance procedures.

The employee is bound by his or her implied obligation of good faith during parental leave and by any contractual terms and conditions relating to:

notice periods;

disclosure of confidential information;

acceptance of gifts, or other benefits;

the employee working for someone else.

The employment contract continues during an absence on parental leave, unless it is terminated by the employer or employee. This means that an employee continues to benefit from his or her statutory employment rights during parental leave.

The continuation of other terms and conditions during parental leave, such as access to a company car or mobile phone, and perks such as health club membership, remains a contractual matter between the employer and employee.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is parental leave paid?

The right does not include a statutory right to pay, so whether or not the employee will be paid is left to the employer?s discretion, or to the contract of employment between them.

Is an employee entitled to receive any bonuses which may fall during parental leave?

Payments of bonuses during parental leave can be a complicated area, where independent legal advice should be sought. Whether a bonus is payable to an employee on parental leave depends on the type of bonus and the terms of the particular bonus scheme.

Generally, however, an employee will be entitled to the bonus if it relates to performance or work already done prior to his or her parental leave. An employee is unlikely to be entitled to the bonus if it is a reward for future work or performance, during a period in which the employee would be absent on parental leave.
In drawing up the terms and conditions of any bonus scheme, employers should take particular care not to indirectly discriminate on grounds of sex against those employees taking parental leave.

Further information about sex discrimination can be found in the booklet Sex Discrimination: a guide to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (PL 955).[4]

Can holiday accrue during periods of parental leave?

A period of absence on parental leave does not affect entitlement to paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations. The booklet A Guide to the Working Time Regulations[5] provides more information on the entitlement to statutory holiday leave.

The accrual of additional contractual holiday entitlement during parental leave is a matter for agreement between the parties concerned (or their representatives).

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Ooh, thanks for that, all.

Kewcumber, I think it would be harder for me to use it in future years, as I'll be in the thick of deadlines etc. and they're more likely to say know.

Thanks for all the detail, flowerybeanbag. That's really helpful.

say no, I mean

spooky, i tagged 4 weeks parental leave on to the end of my maternity leave. i didn't know i could do that until i was talking to my (then) HR about how i could delay coming back to work - even further! - until my CM could start.

Think it was a good example of how often it's not made crystal clear what you're entitl;ed to, unless you ask the right questions - albeit accidentally in my case.

i was also told at the end of a mat leave was only time you could take 4 weeks together.
hope it works out for the best for you

That's good to know, stepfordwife.

Loving the name, btw.

I' e-mailing my letter into work tomorrow, after I've interviewed a prospective CM.

hey thanks, spooky..
shouldn't be a problwem as you're entitled to do that...
only hitch is not being paid for the leave of course!

I added the full 13 weeks to the end of my Mat leave.

that's intereesting, drosophilia..
you mean i coukd have strung out my mat leave even further