You have the right to take parental leave if you...
- Have been employed by the same company for one year plus, and you have a contract
- Are a parent named on the birth certificate/adoption certificate
- Have the legal responsibility for a child under five
Parental leave info:
- You can take up to thirteen weeks parental leave up until your child’s fifth birthday – if you adopted then you can take it until the fifth anniversary of their placement
- If your child is disabled you have the right to take up to eighteen weeks parental leave up to their eighteenth birthday
- You can take parental leave to spend more time with your child, or to care for your child in hospital, or to look at schools etc
- Wherever possible, employers and employees should make their own agreements about how parental leave will work in a workplace, but if this is not possible the 'fallback scheme' applies automatically
- Your contract continues as normal, you are entitled to your employment benefits
- If you are a foster parent, you have no rights to parental leave
More information on Parental Leave >