Parental leave is designed to help employees with the care and welfare of a child. Employees, subject to certain qualifying conditions, are entitled to a total of 18 weeks unpaid leave due to the birth or adoption of each child. The leave must be taken before each child’s 18th birthday.

Qualifying for Parental Leave

To qualify for Parental Leave, ESC employees must:

• have at least 52 week’s service with ESC working full or part time
• be the mother, father or adoptive parent of the child, or
• have acquired formal parental responsibility for the child 
• be the spouse or partner of one of the child’s parents and have acquired formal parental responsibility for the child

Parental Leave can only be taken in multiples of one week, except in the case of a disabled child where leave can be taken in blocks or in multiples of one day. 

A “week” is the length of time you are normally required to work over 7 days. For instance, if you normally work three days a week, one ‘week’ is equivalent to three working days.

Where a part week is taken this will be classed as a full week for accounting purposes (e.g. if an employee takes 1 day, their entitlement reduces from 18 to 17 weeks, This does not apply in the case of a disabled child where leave can be booked in days with no reduction in leave for accounting purposes where a part week is taken.

As Parental Leave is cumulative according to a child’s age, regardless of the employer, ESC will deduct any Parental Leave entitlement taken with a previous employer from the employee’s remaining entitlement. Please see Section 3. Process for more information.

Employees should note that, for the purposes of this policy, “parents” refers to natural parents, step-parents, adoptive parents or single-sex couples with parenting responsibilities.

ESC recognises that this can mean that employees who are parents may not necessarily be living with the child in order to qualify for Parental Leave. 

Employees may be refused leave where they are unable to provide evidence of their parental responsibility for the child. 

While the leave can be taken by any person with parental responsibility for the child, employees should note that the right to the leave is non-transferable between them.

Notifying ESC

Employees are expected to notify ESC in writing no later than 21 days before the date that they wish to take the leave unless this is not reasonably practical. Details of this notification should include:

• Date of birth of the child 
• Details of any previous Parental Leave taken (including any with a previous employer)
• Dates that the leave is requested to be taken. 

ESC will respond to the employee in writing within 14 days setting out:

• Confirmation of the dates or
• A decision to postpone (see below)

Postponement

With at least seven days’ notice prior to the agreed leave date, ESC can postpone an employee’s Parental Leave for up to six months.  ESC will only consider this action where it believes that taking the Parental Leave at the time requested will result in particular disruption to the organisation. 

ESC will not postpone Parental Leave where an employee gives notice to take the leave:

• immediately after the birth or placement for adoption of a child
• as time off to attend the birth 

Employees may use the Resolution Policy if they do not accept the reasons arising from a postponement. 

Taking Parental Leave

Employees should note the following conditions which apply to employees taking Parental Leave:

• a ‘leave year’ relates to each individual qualifying child’s date of birth
• Parental Leave can only be taken in multiples of one week.  Where a part week is taken this will be classed as a full week for accounting purposes . This does not apply in the case of a disabled child where leave can be booked in days with no reduction in leave for accounting purposes where a part week is taken. 
• the leave must be taken before each child’s 18th birthday.
• employees who take Parental Leave immediately after the birth of their child may be asked to provide a copy of the birth certificate within two weeks of starting the leave
• as previously indicated, Parental Leave is designed to help employees with the care and welfare of a child.  ESC will take disciplinary action against any employee who is found, following investigation, to have misused Parental Leave. Please refer to the Disciplinary Policy.

Employer / employee contact during Parental Leave

When the employee is on Parental Leave, ESC may make reasonable contact with them.  This is more likely to be when an extended period of leave has been requested (for example 4 weeks or more).  The frequency and nature of the contact will depend on a number of factors, such as the length of absence, nature of the work, any agreement which may have been reached before Parental Leave began as to contact and whether either party needs to communicate important information to the other. 

Some examples of other forms of reasonable contact:

Changes in the workplace:

ESC will keep the employee updated about any significant changes in the workplace while they are on Parental Leave.

Returning to Work

Discussion may take place to ensure that plans are in place for the employee’s return to work in relation to:

• Any request to amend working practices or to facilitate a phased return into the workplace
• Introducing new colleagues
• Introducing new working practices or policies
• the availability of a workstation, computer etc
• any refresher training required
• communicating with any affected employees (including any temporary staff hired to cover the absence)

If an employee decides not to return to work following Parental Leave, they must give ESC notice of termination of employment in the normal way. 

ESC will give careful consideration to any requests that the employee might make in respect of Flexible Working in line with business requirements.  Employees should refer to the Flexible Working Policy for more information.