Parental leave and employer responsibilities

[marcoma]

I have recently discovered I am entitled to reqest parental leave. This comes at a time when I am almost at the 'cut-off' point for requesting it as my child is almost 5 years old.

My employer has no mention of 'parental leave' in the staff handbook, and as it is a statutory right, I want to know if the employer is obliged to have clear information of it in the staff handbook?

[LimeLegal]

Your employer should have all this in the staff handbook however many employers do not ( or even have a handbook at all) and it is not their job to educate staff on their rights under law.

The law allows rights to be enforced so claim your rights now in writing and you can of course mention the lack of statutory information in the handbook.

There are no penalties for them not having this in the handbook but it makes practical sense to keep them safe to do so quite apart from keeping the staff informed and happy.

[marcoma]

Thanks for that information.

I understand that I am entitled to 13 weeks. My employer insists I can only take a maximum of 4 weeks in a year. But my entitlement is soon to run out, so do I have a right to take the full 13 weeks now (or as soon as is practically possible)?

[LimeLegal]

You should give your employer written notice of your request for parental leave and confirm your intention to take your 13 week entitlement. Lodgement of the request prior to the cut off should preserve your rights to take it.

Agree with your employer when this will be taken and make sure all is agreed in writing, under the legislation your employer can postpone leave for business reasons for up to 6 months and the entitlement has always been a maximum of 4 weeks in any one year.

If you have issues/problems lodge a written grievance and see if that resolves matters, if not then you may have grounds to take your employer to a tribunal but that is an absolute last resort.

[marcoma]

Thank you LimeLegal.

The latest progress I have on this is that my employer has offered me alternate dates for parental leave which are not convenient for me.

As my work regularly requires me to work excessive hours and I am never paid overtime or given time off in lieu of it I would expect the same flexibility from my employer as I have shown them.

They also have told me (wrongly I beleive) that as the 'cut off' period to request leave is nearly here (february 2008 in my case) that I won't be entitled to my full 13 weeks. Information I have from the government website is that they encourage employers to go beyond the minimum requirements set. In other words the employer can extend the period over which leave can be granted. My employer has addmitted they haven't even read this information. Would it be reasonable for me to request them to reconsider? They have told me 'no'. What would be the next step? Another request in writing? A grievance?

Thanks for your help.

[LimeLegal]

One way of doing this is to give them another request including mention that the next step will be a formal grievance and that you are disappointed that the flexibility you have shown seems to be one sided.

Then if no joy you need to formally lodge a grievance and move to a hearing etc and appeal if necessary. Anther way is that you may also wish to take some advice from ACAS who will often act as conciliation in disputes to avoid a tribunal.

I suggest you work with the employer to get a firm agreement to some mutually acceptable dates and get talking about your feelings towards the lack of help.

[marcoma]

Thank you LimeLegal. That is something I had not considered doing.

You have been very helpful, thank you for your time.

[marcoma]

The update on this issue is that after I appealed the decision I have suddenly been granted the leave at the time I originally requested it.

I am a bit concerned that they may not give my full entitlement in the coming years, can they site the fact that they granted me parental leave this year as an example that they have been reasonable enough? I mean I am entitled to 13 weeks and have only requested 3 weeks this year.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Marco

BTW I have another question regarding my part-time status and demands which I feel is a bit unreasonable. This is posted as a new question.

[LimeLegal]

If you are entitled to parental leave you are entitled to the full amount in each year however I understood from your posting that after Feb 2008 you were no longer entitled.

It is unusual for a member of staff to take 13 weeks each year but your employer will just have to abide by the law and if they refuse you need to follow the advice as per this instance.