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Parental Leave

Sarah

Hi there

Just wondered if someone can advise if it is permissible to turn down a request for parental leave https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave if it doesn't meet business needs. We have a number of other staff off at the same time that this is being requested and we won't have the right ratio of staff to children available to run our business should this request for parental leave be permitted., Furthermore, the request is to 'Spend time with their child' the staff member concerned hasn't give a specific reason such as operation  or settling child into a new setting. Any advice appreciated!

Thanks!

Parents
  • Parental leave should be taken in weeks, if an individual takes a day (to cover childcare emergencies) I believe this then should be processed as a week therefore it would be better for the individual to take standard unpaid leave on this day, if annual leave isn’t available.

    As it is all hypothetical and the individual has already taken a number of dependant leave days and exhausted annual leave, it might be worth having a conversation (once you have all the information you need) to chat through informally what the childcare arrangements currently are, what support they have etc to understand more around their personal circumstance and if any other flexibility can be provided. They may be asking for a full day or week when all they need is an hour or two? It would perhaps be better to try and accommodate than the employee be left with no options / going off sick if they get sick pay etc. Also, is annual leave being used for childcare, is the employee getting time off to themselves to rest and recuperate. Is there a well-being issue?

    Lots to consider but deffo worth a conversation to understand the full picture.

    But to answer your initial question, yes it can be deferred, up to 6 months and a date should be agreed at the point that the leave is postponed.

    Hope all goes well
Reply
  • Parental leave should be taken in weeks, if an individual takes a day (to cover childcare emergencies) I believe this then should be processed as a week therefore it would be better for the individual to take standard unpaid leave on this day, if annual leave isn’t available.

    As it is all hypothetical and the individual has already taken a number of dependant leave days and exhausted annual leave, it might be worth having a conversation (once you have all the information you need) to chat through informally what the childcare arrangements currently are, what support they have etc to understand more around their personal circumstance and if any other flexibility can be provided. They may be asking for a full day or week when all they need is an hour or two? It would perhaps be better to try and accommodate than the employee be left with no options / going off sick if they get sick pay etc. Also, is annual leave being used for childcare, is the employee getting time off to themselves to rest and recuperate. Is there a well-being issue?

    Lots to consider but deffo worth a conversation to understand the full picture.

    But to answer your initial question, yes it can be deferred, up to 6 months and a date should be agreed at the point that the leave is postponed.

    Hope all goes well
Children
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