Form: Parental Leave Application Form
The purpose of this scheme is to enable staff to spend more time with their young children each year whilst at the same time keeping their employment open. This is in line with their statutory right to Parental Leave as defined in the Employment Relations Act 1999 and the Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Act 2001.
In the knowledge that Parental Leave is a statutory right, the University wishes to promote the scheme as part of the wider Positive Working Environment Agenda. This is in the knowledge that such leave can benefit individual staff, teams and the organisation as a whole.
These provisions are in addition to the separate provisions covering maternity leave, paternity leave and the University’s career break scheme.
Employees are entitled to thirteen weeks unpaid leave for each of their children aged under five years old. In the case of multiple births thirteen weeks leave must be provided for each child. Parents of disabled children can take their leave up to the child’s 18th birthday and have the right to take up to 18 weeks Parental Leave. In the case of employees who work part-time the leave will be in proportion to the time worked.
Leave may be taken in blocks of one week upwards; up to a maximum period of four weeks in any year with part of a week counting as one week. Parents of disabled children may also take leave in multiples of one day.
Employees will have the right to Parental Leave if he or she has one year’s continuous employment and:
a) Is the parent (named on the birth certificate) of a child who is under five years old; or
b) Has adopted a child under the age of eighteen. The right lasts for five years from the date on which the child is placed with that employee for adoption; or until the child’s eighteenth birthday, whichever is the sooner; or
c) Has acquired formal parental responsibility for a child who is under five years old.
During Parental Leave the University, through the Manager, will:
a) Ensure that the employee returns to his/her job, or a job which has the same or better status, terms and conditions.
b) Ensure that seniority and pension membership are maintained.
c) Treat the employee as if he/she was working normally in respect of redundancy procedures.
The following general conditions apply:
a) During the Parental Leave the employee will remain employed but will not be paid and will not be bound by any contractual terms except terms relating to good faith and confidentiality.
b) Superannuation payments will not be payable during periods of parental leave which are greater than one week. However, if the employee wishes to maintain their own employee pension contributions during this period, the University will meet the appropriate employers’ contributions. In these circumstances, appropriate arrangements for the payment of contributions will need to be made with the Pensions Section before the parental leave commences. Please contact the Payroll Office for details regarding the implications for Pension Salary Exchange where appropriate.
c) There will be no entitlement to annual leave or sick pay during the period of the Parental Leave
d) Where an employee becomes pregnant during Parental Leave, the normal accrued Maternity Leave entitlements will apply.
e) A period of time on Parental Leave shall not be regarded as a break in service.
f) Incremental progression will not be affected by Parental Leave.
g) The duration of Parental Leave will be clearly specified and agreed before commencement of the break, and an employee will not be entitled to return to work before the expected end of the Parental Leave, unless agreed by management.
Parental Leave is a statutory right and an application for Parental Leave will not be unreasonably refused. However, leave may be postponed, where necessary, for the needs of the University.
The employee must give the University at least four weeks’ notice of taking leave; if the employee is taking more than two weeks’ leave at any one time, the notice given must be twice length of the leave. The employee must give notice of the exact day on which leave will start.
The exception is for fathers who wish to take leave straight after the baby is born or prospective adoptive parents who wish to take leave straight after the child is placed with them for adoption. Prospective parents may take parental leave at this time if they have given the University notice three months before the week in which the birth or adoption is expected.
The University will respond to the request for leave within a time equal to the amount of leave requested.
The University may postpone leave where the needs of the University make this necessary. Leave can be postponed to an agreed date, or to a suitable future period but will not be postponed for more than six months. If this means leave is postponed beyond the five year limit, the right to take it still exists.
The employee has no right to take more than 13 weeks for each child in total, regardless of employer.
The University may ask for reasonable evidence to support a request for parental leave, for example, proof of the child’s age and proof of employee’s responsibilities towards that child.
If abuse of the leave is suspected, then the employee may be dealt with under normal disciplinary procedures.
