Parental and family templates toolkit

• Employees have a legal right to take time off work for various family-related reasons, including maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, shared parental leave, and time off for dependants.

• Employers must ensure that they have clear policies and procedures in place for managing family-related leave, and that these are communicated effectively to employees.

• Employers must comply with statutory leave entitlements, such as maternity and paternity leave, and should ensure that they do not discriminate against employees who exercise their right to take leave.

• Employers must ensure that they provide a safe and healthy working environment for pregnant employees and new mothers, and that they carry out risk assessments and make any necessary adjustments to ensure their safety.

• Employers may be required to provide reasonable adjustments to employees who have caring responsibilities for disabled dependants, in order to ensure that they are able to balance their work and caring responsibilities.

• Employers should ensure that any requests for family-related leave are dealt with promptly and fairly, and that employees are informed of the outcome in writing.

• Employers should ensure that employees are aware of their rights and entitlements with regard to family-related leave, and that any concerns or queries are addressed promptly and sensitively.

It is important for employers to have clear policies and procedures in place for managing family-related leave, to comply with UK employment law, and to support their employees' wellbeing and work-life balance.

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.