Parental leave policy template

Overview

The purpose of this policy is to detail the rules and eligibility concerning Parental Leave.

Scope

This policy is applicable to all employees of [company name].

General principles

An employee who has or expects to have responsibility for a child is entitled to take Parental Leave to care for that child. 

Parental leave is unpaid. You’re entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child and adopted child, up to their 18th birthday.

You will qualify if all of these apply:

• you've been in the company for more than a year
• you're named on the child's birth or adoption certificate or you or expect to have parental responsibility
• you're not self-employed or a 'worker', eg an agency worker or contractor
• you're not a foster parent (unless you've secured parental responsibility through the courts)
• the child is under 18

The limit on how much parental leave each parent can take in a year is 4 weeks for each child (unless the employer agrees otherwise).

You must take parental leave as whole weeks (eg 1 week or 2 weeks) rather than individual days, unless your employer agrees otherwise or if your child is disabled. You don’t have to take all the leave at once.

You must give your line manager at least 28 days notice of your intention to take Parental Leave.