In work

If you have worked for at least one year, continuously, for the same employer, and have a child or children, you may be entitled to parental leave. Your child’s age is the vital factor. If you have a child aged under five, or a disabled child under 18, you are entitled to:

• a total of 13 weeks unpaid leave per child, to look after them, or
• 18 weeks unpaid leave per child if you are looking after a disabled child who is receiving disability allowance.

You have to take this leave before your child is five, or before they are 18 if they are disabled. If your child is adopted, the rules are slightly different. You have to take parental leave from within five years from the date your child was placed with you, or before their 18th birthday, whichever comes first. Foster parents do not qualify for parental leave.

What can I use parental leave for?

The idea behind parental leave is to let you take unpaid leave from work to look after your child or to sort out arrangements for childcare. You could use parental leave to spend more time with your child when they are young, to be with them if they have to go into hospital, to look at new schools, or to be there while they get used to a new childminder. You can also use parental leave to spend more time together as a family, e.g. taking your child to stay with his or her grandparents.

How long can I take at once?

You can take parental leave by the day, if you're using it to care for a disabled child, or in blocks of a week. In both cases, the most leave you can take is four weeks a year. And you cannot ‘give’ some of your entitlement to you husband, wife or partner. You both have an entitlement to 13 weeks unpaid leave per child (or 18 weeks for a disabled child).

Some employers have workforce agreements that allow their employees to take more than four weeks off a year, so check your contract. It is always worth checking your staff handbook or contract of employment as some employers are more generous with parental leave.

You must give your employer at least 21 days’ notice of when you want to take parental leave. Employers can postpone your parental leave if you have asked to be away at a time that is difficult for them. For example, it could be during their busy season, or a lot of other employees have already asked to take parental leave at the same time.

If your employer is postponing your leave, they have to tell you in writing, within seven days of you asking them. They also have to give you that leave within the next six months. Your employer cannot postpone your leave if you have asked for it to start straight after your child’s birth, or as soon as an adopted child comes to live with you.

What if my request is turned down?

If you have the right to take parental leave and your employer refuses to let you have it, there are steps you can take. First, talk to your employer or to the human resource department about why they have turned down your request.

If your employers will not change their decision, you could make a complaint through their internal grievance procedure. If you have a trade union representative, or someone similar, it is a good idea to ask them for help. If that does not work, you have the right to make a complaint to an employment tribunal.

You must make your application to the employment tribunal within three months and that is a strict time limit. If you are going through the grievance procedure the time limit can sometimes be extended but to be on the safe side make sure you keep to the three-months time limit. It can sometimes be difficult to work out when the three-months limit starts. If you're not sure, you should get legal advice.

You can get help and advice on problems at work from ACAS. Their helpline, 08457 474747, is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.

It's against the law to discriminate against people at work on the grounds of:

• age,
• race,
• gender,
• disability,
• sexual orientation, or
• religion or belief.

You'll be protected from discrimination at work whether you work full- or part-time, whether you're in permanent or temporary work or you're a freelance worker.

Discrimination can take place in various ways when you're employed. It can include any of the following:

• the way in which the job is advertised or the way in which you're recruited,
• the amount of pay or other benefits you receive,
• other terms and conditions at work,
• the way in which your appraisals take place,
• the training available to you,
• decisions made to dismiss you from work or make you redundant, or
• the conditions concerning your retirement from work.

Carers and protection from discrimination at work

The law that protects disabled people against discrimination also applies to their carers. This follows a legal case about carer Sharon Coleman who claimed that she was discriminated against because she had a disabled son and was treated less favourably than employees whose children were not disabled.

In some cases carers who've been refused the right to work flexibly may be able to argue that they're being discriminated against. If you're in this situation you should get further advice as quickly as possible.

What to do if you experience discrimination at work

As a first step you should discuss the matter with your manager or human resources (HR) officer to see if your complaint can be resolved informally.

If that isn't successful you should put your grievance in writing and arrange a meeting with your employer.

If you aren't satisfied with the decision about your grievance you can then ask to appeal.

At this stage, or at any stage of your complaint, you can use a mediation service such as ACAS or ask your employer to arrange mediation. ACAS has a pre-application conciliation service that tries to resolve matters without the need for a tribunal hearing.

If you decide to go to tribunal, in most cases you must apply to the tribunal within three months of the date the act of discrimination occurred. If you're unsure how this time limit applies to you, you should get legal advice.

Information you need to give to the tribunal

If you're applying to a tribunal because of discrimination you'll need to describe the incidents that you believe amounted to discrimination, the dates of those incidents and the people involved. You should also describe how you've been affected by these events.

It may be worth keeping a written record so that you have this information available if needed.

Legal advice
In many cases it's sensible to get specialist legal advice, particularly if you anticipate having to make an application to the tribunal. If you're a member of a union or professional association they may be able to advise you or put you in touch with a specialist adviser. Alternatively, you could find a Citizens Advice Bureau, legal advice service or private firm of solicitors that specialises in employment law.