Time off for families

Contents of this page:

• About your rights
• Are you an employee?
• Parental leave
• The basic right
• What employers can do
• Time off for dependants
• Questions and answers
• Useful contacts
• Unions today - your friend at work

Thanks to Europe, there are new rights to time off work for people with family responsibilities.

This page explains how you may benefit from:

• 13 weeks unpaid parental leave for both mothers and fathers of new babies

• emergency leave for parents or anyone with a caring responsibility

About your rights

These new rights come from successful trade union campaigning in Europe for the Parental Leave Directive.

This page gives a basic guide to these new rights, and tries to answer some common questions.

But employment rights are often very complicated, and if you get into a dispute with your employer then you will need further advice - sources are listed at the end. You should not rely on this leaflet as a comprehensive statement of the law.

This page does not deal with maternity rights, maternity pay and other rights enjoyed by women while they are pregnant or immediately after their baby is born. Maternity rights are due to be improved for mothers of babies born after April 2000.

A leaflet is available from the TUC’s know your right’s line 0870 600 4 882 about maternity rights or click on the link for the web version. Further sources of information are given at the end of this page.

Are you an employee?

This is an important question because the rights described in this page only apply to employees.

Not everyone who works for someone else is an employee. Some people are happy to be self-employed and understand its advantages and disadvantages.

But some unscrupulous employers treat staff as self-employed simply as a way of getting round their responsibilities. The tax office applies different and stricter tests about whether you are self-employed, so even if you pay tax as an employee it does not necessarily mean the law treats you as an employee. The government is getting tougher with this abuse, but some workers do not find out that they do not have rights as an employee until they try to exercise their legal rights.

If your employer tells you that are not an employee, for example because you work from home, obtained work through an agency, or are a ‘casual’ worker, you should get legal advice as soon as possible. In some cases, you may nevertheless be counted as an ‘employee’ and should get your rights.

Parental leave

Parental leave is a new right for both mothers and fathers to take time off work to look after a child or to make arrangements for the welfare of a child.

Although some employers may provide pay for parental leave, there is no duty on them to do so. If you do not get paid parental leave and are low paid, then you may be entitled to extra social security benefits or tax credits whilst taking leave. To check these rights contact the Benefits Agency, the Inland Revenue or a specialist adviser (for example a Citizens Advice Bureau or Law Centre).

The law provides a basic right for parental leave. The government hopes that employers will improve on these rights. It is also possible for an employer to negotiate changes in the way the basic right affects their staff as long as they do it with a recognised union, or in non-union workplaces with representatives specially elected to deal with this issue.

In workplaces with these agreements parental leave rights will be different (and probably better) so you should not rely on the scheme working the same way as described here.

The basic right

Employees who have worked for their employers for at least one year and who had a baby, or who adopted a baby or child, on or after 15 December 1999 have the right to up to 13 weeks’ parental leave for that baby or child.

The employee can, in principle, choose to take the leave at any time:

• until the child’s fifth birthday.

• in adoption cases, for five years after the child is first placed with the family for adoption (or until the child’s 18th birthday if that comes sooner).

• if the child has a disability and gets Disability Living Allowance, until that child’s 18th birthday.

Unless your employer agrees otherwise, leave must be taken in blocks or multiples of one week.

No more than 4 weeks’ leave may be taken in any one year, except where you have more than one child giving you the right to take leave.

However, if you are a parent of a child with a disability entitled to Disability Living Allowance, you may take leave in periods of less than a week.

If you take leave for 4 weeks or less you have the right to return to the same job as before.

This does not apply however if you take more than 4 weeks, or if this leave is at the end of ‘additional’ maternity leave. (This is when a new mother who has worked for their employer for more than a year opts to extend their maternity leave until the end of the 29th week after the start of the week in which your baby was born.)

In these cases you have the right to go back to the same job, except where the employer can show that it is not reasonably practicable to let you go back to the same job. In that case, you are entitled to another job which is both suitable and appropriate for you.

You must give 21 days’ notice of taking parental leave. You need not put this notice in writing, but we would advise you to do so in case there is any argument.

You should tell your employer the start and finish dates for your period of leave.

If you are a father-to-be wanting to take leave from the date of the birth, you should give notice at least 21 days before the beginning of the expected week of the birth. You should say when the baby is due and how much leave you want once the baby is born.

If you are about to have a child placed with you for adoption, you should give notice at least 21 days before the beginning of the expected week of the placement, stating how much leave you want to take. If this is difficult because of the adoption proceedings or any other reason, you should give notice as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so.

What employers can do

If an employer considers that your absence would unduly disrupt the business then they can postpone your parental leave for no longer than 6 months after the date when you originally wanted to start your leave.

Your employer should discuss this with you and confirm the postponement in writing no later than 7 days after you have given them your notice of wanting to take leave. The employer’s notice should say why they are postponing it and set out new dates for leave. Get advice immediately from your union rep or an advice agency such as a Law Centre worker if you are unhappy about your employer’s decision.

Time off for dependants

From 15 December 1999, employees have the right to ‘reasonable’ time off work to help people such as family members or friends who depend on them for assistance in an emergency. There is no set limit on how much time off can be taken. But you can only take off the time necessary to sort out the immediate ‘problem’.

This time off does not have to be paid by the employer, but some employers (often those with trade union agreements on ‘family’, ‘special’ or ‘carers’ leave) already give paid leave in these circumstances, perhaps up to a certain number of days per year.

A ‘dependant’ means your parent, wife, husband or child, or someone who lives with you as part of your family. It does not include someone in a more commercial relationship with you, such as a live-in employee or a tenant.

A ‘dependant’ can also be someone who ‘reasonably’ relies on you for help if they are ill, has an accident or when their normal care arrangements have broken down (for example, if they are a neighbour or friend of yours with a disability).

An employee has the right to ‘reasonable’ time off:

• To help when a dependant falls ill, gives birth or is injured. ‘Illness’ or ‘injury’ includes mental illness or injury.

• When a dependant dies.

• To cope when the arrangements for caring for a dependant unexpectedly break down.

• To cope with an unexpected incident involving a dependant child during school hours, or on a school trip or in other circumstances when the school has responsibility for the child.

Employees relying on this right must tell their employer, as soon as reasonably practicable, why they are absent and (unless they are already back at work), for how long the absence is likely to last.

Since this new right depends to a large extent on what is ‘reasonable’ (which is not defined in law), it can be difficult to know where you stand if your employer is refusing your right to leave or is saying that you took unauthorised leave. In this situation, you should consult your union rep or a specialist adviser immediately.

These leave rights do not apply to other domestic emergencies such as break-ins, fire or floods, although most employers should be reasonable in these circumstances.

Questions and Answers

What happens to my contractual rights and benefits while I’m on parental leave?

These rights will be suspended until you come back, unless your employer agrees to maintain them. You may have additional rights under sex discrimination legislation. If in doubt about where you stand, get further advice on the interpretation of your job contract.

Who counts as a ‘parent’ in order to be able to take parental leave?

Only parents or carers with ‘parental responsibility’ or who expect to get ‘parental responsibility’, and fathers who are registered on a child’s birth certificate are entitled to take parental leave for a child. Natural mothers and married fathers automatically have parental responsibility. Unmarried fathers will have ‘parental responsibility’ if they have been granted it by the mother or have a court order granting it. Adoptive parents usually get ‘parental responsibility’ when the adoption order is made. Same-sex partners or others may sometimes get ‘parental responsibility’ through legal proceedings. If your employer is disputing your right to take leave on this ground, you may need to get advice from a family lawyer or specialist family law adviser. You can contact the Law Society for details of family law specialists.

Can my employer require me to produce evidence in order to take parental leave?

An employer can ask to see evidence about your responsibility for a child. You might need to produce a birth certificate, adoption papers, other papers about legal proceedings regarding the child, or evidence of a Disability Living Allowance award. If you are unhappy about your employer’s demands about producing evidence, consult your union rep or a specialist adviser.

What happens if I change my job?

If you have not taken all your leave in one job you carry over any extra rights to leave to your new job. But you must wait until you have worked for your new employer for more than a year before you can take any more parental leave. If this takes you beyond your child’s fifth birthday (or the other qualifying conditions for adopted or disabled children) then you will lose the leave entitlement. Employers are not obliged to keep records of parental leave, so you should keep a diary of any parental leave you take, and you may want to get your current employer to sign this if you change jobs so that you have some evidence of how much leave you have left.

Does my paternity leave or extra maternity leave count toward parental leave?

There is no separate legal right to ‘paternity’ or ‘birth support’ leave, which is time off given by many employers to fathers (or in some cases to other relatives or friends of the mother) around the time of the birth of a baby. Since part of the purpose of this leave is to help and support the mother at this time, it should not count as ‘parental’ leave. Get advice if your employer is trying to deduct your paternity leave from your 13 weeks’ parental leave. Legal rights to ‘ordinary’ and ‘additional’ maternity leave (until the end of the 29 weeks after the week of your baby’s birth) are in addition to the right to parental leave. But some employers also give rights to extra maternity leave as well, perhaps until your baby is a year old or more and usually unpaid. If your employer is trying to deduct this right to leave from your 13 weeks’ parental leave, get advice from your union rep or a specialist adviser, as your employer may be in breach of your contract or sex discrimination law.

What happens if my employer tries to prevent me taking parental leave or time off for dependants, or dismisses or disadvantages me?

You have the right to complain to an employment tribunal if your employer has unreasonably refused to let you take time off for dependants, unreasonably postponed your parental leave or has prevented or tried to prevent you from taking parental leave. You also have a separate right not to be dismissed or subjected to any unfavourable treatment other than dismissal (such as harassing you, downgrading your job or cutting your pay) because you have taken parental leave or time-off for dependants or have tried to do so.

You must make sure that any complaint is made within three months of the actions of your employer which you are complaining about. Otherwise, it is very unlikely that your complaint will be heard. If your complaint is successful, you can be awarded compensation. If you are considering making a complaint, get advice from a union rep, a solicitor or another specialist adviser.

Useful contacts

The TUC know your rights line 0870 600 4 882 has a range of useful leaflets on rights at work.

Maternity Alliance - advice to pregnant women and new parents -

020 7588 8582

Parents at Work - 020 7628 3565

New Ways to Work (advice on flexible/’family-friendly’ working patterns) - 020 7930 3355

Discrimination Law Association (information on discrimination law and promotes access to representation for complainants) - 020 7450 3663

Health and Safety Executive (advice on pregnancy/maternity and health and safety) - 020 7717 6000

Law Society - 020 7242 1222

Law Centres Federation - 020 7387 8570

National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux - 020 7833 2181 -

Equal Opportunities Commission (advice on sex discrimination and maternity/parental rights legislation) - 0161 833 9244

Employment Tribunal Service Enquiry Line (information about making a claim) - 0345 959775

ACAS (public enquiry points - general advice on workplace relations)

Birmingham - 0121 456 5856

Liverpool - 0151 427 8881

Bristol - 0117 946 9500

London - 020 7396 5100<</p>

Cardiff - 029 2076 1126

Manchester - 0161 833 8585

Fleet - 01252 811868

Newcastle upon Tyne - 0191 261 2191

Glasgow - 0141 204 2677

Nottingham - 0115 969 3355

Leeds - 0113 243 371

Inland Revenue (tax credits) - 0800 597 5976

Benefits Agency (Your local office will be in the phone book)

Department of Trade and Industry - the DTI has produced short guides to new maternity rights, parental leave and time off for dependants. Orderline - 0870 1502 100.

TUC ‘Great Expectations’ Guide

The TUC has produced a more comprehensive guide to parental and maternity rights aimed at unions and advice agencies. An updated version of this guide is available from TUC publications on 020 7467 1294.

Unions today – your friend at work

The new rights described in this leaflet - and many others such as the minimum wage - have been won by union campaigning. And without union help and assistance many workers won’t get the full benefit of new rights at work.

Every day unions help thousands of people at work. Last year unions won a record £330 million compensation for their members through legal action. They won £1 million in equal pay claims - an average of £15,000 per member.

And of course unions help negotiate better pay and conditions, including far better provisions for family friendly employment than the legal minimums.

To find out more about joining a union, complete our form, or call the TUC know your rights line 0870 600 4 882.