Unpaid parental leave
Entitlement
Parental leave is unpaid. You鈥檙e entitled to 18 weeks鈥� leave for each child and adopted child, up to their 18th birthday.
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 (for example 1 week or 2 weeks) rather than individual days, unless your employer agrees otherwise or if your child is disabled. You do not have to take all the leave at once.
A 鈥榳eek鈥� equals the length of time an employee normally works over 7 days.
Example
If an employee works 3 days a week, one 鈥榳eek鈥� of parental leave equals 3 days. If an employee works irregular weeks the number of days in a 鈥榳eek鈥� is the total number of days they work a year divided by 52.
Carrying leave over from a previous job
Parental leave applies to each child, not to an individual鈥檚 job.
Example
An employee is entitled to 18 weeks. They鈥檝e used 10 with a previous employer. They can use up to 8 weeks with their new employer if they鈥檙e eligible.