Parental and family templates toolkit

• Includes 12 months' access to 37 Parental And Family templates, with all updates to the Parental and family templates toolkit provided free of charge and notified to you.
• UK-specific accuracy.
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Parental and family

The purpose of parental, maternity, paternity, and adoption templates is to provide employees and employers with clear and consistent information about their rights and obligations under employment law when it comes to caring for a new child.

These templates can help ensure that both parties are aware of their responsibilities and entitlements and can help facilitate a smoother transition to a new family dynamic.

By providing clear communication about entitlements to parental leave, flexible working, and other support options, employers can help employees balance their work and family responsibilities, reduce stress and anxiety, and maintain their job satisfaction and productivity. Additionally, the use of these templates can help ensure compliance with relevant employment legislation and best practices.

Parental and family templates are essential for managing a low-risk, compliant Parental and family process.

Key Parental And Family Case Law

Navigating Parental and family processes correctly is crucial to help you avoid any problems (which can be costly in terms of time, money and reputation).

Recent UK case law has highlighted key aspects of good Parental and family management. Knowing how courts have handled claims can help you assess whether your proposed actions are likely to be seen as reasonable.

Here are some notable rulings and their implications:

• Ali v. Capita Customer Management Ltd (2018):

  Facts: Mr. Ali's employer offered women on maternity leave 14 weeks of full pay but provided only two weeks of full pay for employees taking shared parental leave. Mr. Ali claimed sex discrimination, arguing that he should receive the same pay during shared parental leave as women on maternity leave.

  Outcome: The Employment Tribunal initially found in favour of Mr. Ali, but this decision was overturned by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). The EAT ruled that enhancing maternity pay without enhancing shared parental pay is not discriminatory.

  Key takeaway: The decision was based on the premise that maternity leave serves purposes beyond childcare, such as recovery from childbirth, which shared parental leave does not.

• Hextall v. Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police (2019):

  Facts: Mr. Hextall, a police officer, took shared parental leave and received statutory shared parental pay. He claimed sex discrimination, arguing that he should receive the same full pay during shared parental leave as his female colleagues on maternity leave.

  Outcome: The Court of Appeal ruled against Mr. Hextall, holding that there was no direct or indirect discrimination. The court determined that men on shared parental leave cannot compare themselves to women on maternity leave for the purposes of equal pay claims because maternity leave has different objectives, including recovery from childbirth.

• Roddis v. Sheffield Hallam University (2020):

  Facts: Mr. Roddis, a fixed-term employee, claimed that he was treated less favourably than a permanent employee regarding his rights to parental leave and other benefits.

  Outcome: The Employment Appeal Tribunal found in favour of Mr. Roddis, ruling that fixed-term employees should not be treated less favourably than permanent employees regarding parental leave rights unless there is a good reason.

  Key takeaway: This case reinforced that fixed-term employees should have equal access to parental leave benefits.

• Price v. Powys County Council (2021):

  Facts: Mrs. Price was refused the opportunity to take parental leave during school holidays, which she argued was a breach of her statutory rights. 

  Outcome: The Employment Tribunal found in favour of Mrs. Price, ruling that the employer had not provided a valid reason for refusing the parental leave request.

  Key takeaway: The case highlighted the importance of employers giving proper consideration to parental leave requests and ensuring they comply with statutory rights.

• Snell v. Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd (2022): 

  Facts: Mr. Snell, an employee of Network Rail, claimed that he faced detrimental treatment after requesting to take parental leave. He alleged that his career progression was hindered due to his leave.

  Outcome: The Employment Tribunal ruled in favour of Mr. Snell, finding that the employer had treated him detrimentally in response to his parental leave request.

  Key takeaway: The case underscored that employers must not treat employees unfavourably because of their use of parental leave rights.

Parental And Family workflow

Here we show you which resources to use to effectively support a pregnant employee, taking into account the different decisions and directions that are likely / possible.

Following this flowchart will ensure that you factor in all eventualities, follow legal / code of conduct or best practice processes, communicate effectively, and reduce the risk of things going wrong.