Parental Leave Policy

1. About this policy

This policy summarises the statutory right of employees with at least 1 year's continuous service to take up to 18 weeks' unpaid parental leave in respect of each child.

This policy should not be confused with the Shared Parental Leave Policy and Procedure, a copy of which is available from the HR Service Centre or on MyOCS.

This policy does not form part of any employee's contract of employment and may be amended at any time.

2. Entitlement to parental leave

To be eligible for parental leave, an employee must:

• Have at least 1 year's continuous employment with us;
• Have or expect to have responsibility for a child; and
• Be taking the leave to spend time with or otherwise care for the child.
• Have responsibility for a child if they are the biological or adoptive parent or have legal parental responsibility in some other way, for example under a court order.

Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 18 weeks' parental leave in relation to each child.

An employee must advise the Company of any parental leave they have taken while working for another employer as this counts towards their 18-week entitlement.

3. Taking parental leave

In most cases, parental leave can only be taken in blocks of a week or a whole number of weeks and an employee cannot take more than 4 weeks' parental leave a year in relation to each child. Parental leave can be taken up to the child's 18th birthday.

Special rules apply where an employee’s child is disabled, which for these purposes means entitled to a disability living allowance, armed forces independence allowance or personal independence payment. An employee can take parental leave in respect of that child in blocks of less than 1 week. However, there is still a limit of 4 weeks a year for each child and 18 weeks in total for each child.

4. Notification requirements

An employee must notify their line manager of their intention to take parental leave at least 21 days in advance, in writing. Their notification should include the start and end dates of the requested period of leave.

If an employee wishes to start parental leave immediately on the birth of a child, they must give notice at least 21 days before the expected week of childbirth.

If an employee wishes to start parental leave immediately on having a child placed with them for adoption, they should give notice at least 21 days before the expected week of placement, or if this is not possible, give as much notice as they can.

5. Evidence of entitlement

The Company may ask to see evidence of:

• Their responsibility or expected responsibility for the child such as birth certificate, adoption or matching certificate, parental responsibility agreement or court order.
• The child's date of birth or date of adoption placement.

6. The Company’s right to postpone parental leave

Although the Company will try to accommodate an employee’s request for parental leave, they may
postpone their requested leave where it would unduly disrupt business (for example, if it would leave the
business short-staffed or unable to complete work on time).

The Company will discuss alternative dates with the individual, and notify them in writing of the reason
for postponement and the new start and end dates, within 7 days of receiving their request for parental
leave.

The Company cannot postpone parental leave if an employee has requested it to start immediately on the birth or adoption of a child.

The Company cannot postpone parental leave for more than 6 months, or beyond the child's 18th birthday (if sooner).

7. Terms and conditions during parental leave

Parental leave is unpaid.

An individual’s employment contract will remain in force, and holiday entitlement will continue to accrue.

They will remain bound by their duties of good faith and confidentiality, and any contractual restrictions on accepting gifts and benefits, or working for another business.