Parental Leave

On 8 March 2013, the limit for parental leave increased from 13 to 18 weeks. This will require an update of any internal policy. This form of unpaid leave (which can be taken in addition to maternity, adoption and paternity leave), has proved popular with parents as it enables them to take significant periods of leave at key stages of their child's life where normal holiday entitlement may otherwise be insufficient.

The main qualification criteria remain unchanged, namely:

it is available for each child aged under 5 (or 18 if in receipt of disability allowance); the employee must have completed one complete years' service to qualify for the right; and a maximum of 4 weeks leave can be taken in any one year. The...