The Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Employment Relations Act 1999, gives carers rights to help them manage work and their caring responsibilities. (These laws are called the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 in Northern Ireland.)

Parental leave is for employees to take time off work to look after a child’s welfare such as to: spend more time with their children, look at new schools, to settle children into new childcare arrangements or spend more time with family, such as visiting grandparents.

Employees who have at least one year’s continuous service and are responsible for a child aged under 18 are entitled to 18 weeks (unpaid) parental leave per child up to their 18th birthday. 

Leave should be taken in blocks of 1 week up to a maximum of 4 weeks leave in a year (for each child); unless the leave is to care for a disabled child, again to a maximum of 4 weeks in a year. Collective or workforce agreements may allow employees to take leave in smaller blocks and/or may allow employees to take more than 4 weeks off in a year.

Employees must give at least 21 days notice in order to take parental leave and this can be postponed if taking leave at the time requested would cause particular disruption to the organisation, e.g. during a seasonal peak in work or if multiple requests for parental leave are made at the same time. If leave is postponed, employers must inform the employee within 7 days of the request for leave being made, and the leave must be granted within 6 months. Parental leave cannot be postponed if it has been requested for the time immediately after the birth of a child or the start of an adoption placement.

For more information about the right to parental leave view guidance from GOV.UK here

Shared Parental Leave

From 5 April 2015 employees may be able to take Shared Parental Leave. This may be taken between the baby’s birth and first birthday (or within 1 year of adoption).

For more information about Shared Parental Leave and Pay view guidance from GOV.UK here