Employees are potentially able to receive an amount of time off from work when they are the parent or adopted parent of a child.
A person will be entitled to Parental Leave if they have been continuously employed by the employer for at least one year and have, or expect to have parental responsibility for a child born on or after 15 December 1999, or they have, or expect to have parental responsibility for a child under 18 years who has been placed with them for adoption on or after 15 December 1999.
There are also limits on the amount of leave to be taken in total and also the amount of leave to be taken in an individual year. There are also restrictions on the blocks of time that the parent can take as leave.
Employees can complain to an Employment Tribunal about any aspect of their employer's refusal to grant parental leave.
Currently there is no statutory entitlement to payment for any period of parental leave.