Parental Leave Rights

Parental leave offers you the right to take unpaid time off work to look after your child or make arrangements for their welfare, providing you meet certain eligibility criteria as follows:

  • You have been employed by the same employer for at least a year
  • You are an 'employee', with a contract of employment (most agency and casual staff don't have the right to parental leave)
  • You are a parent named on the child's birth certificate or you are named on the child's adoption certificate or you have legal parental responsibility for a child under 5 (18 if disabled)

Both parents have the right to parental leave. If you are separated, the parent who no longer lives with the children only has the right to parental leave if they retain formal parental responsibility for the children. Foster parents do not have rights to parental leave.

If you do not qualify for parental leave but need time off to care for your child, you could ask your employer to consider the following options:

  • Taking paid holiday
  • Taking unpaid time off
  • An application for flexible working

You may take up to a total of 13 weeks' parental leave for each of your children up until their fifth birthday. If your child is adopted, you can take a total of up to 13 weeks' parental leave until the fifth anniversary of their placement with you or until their 18th birthday, whichever comes first. If your child is disabled (that is, getting disability living allowance) you have the right to take up to 18 weeks' parental leave until their 18th birthday.

Parental leave is an individual right and it cannot be transferred between parents.

If you believe that your parental leave rights are being compromised, or you simply want more information about your rights, Ashby Cohen can help you. We specialise in employment law cases, and our years of experience as employment lawyers make us uniquely qualified to assist you with any parental leave issues you may have. Please contact us for an initial free consultation.

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