WIREDGOV

The TUC is today (Wednesday) reminding parents of school age children that they now have access to unpaid parental leave that could help them to secure time off work during the school holidays.

Following new rules introduced in April this year, parents with at least one year’s service with their current employer qualify for 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave per child, which can be taken any time up until the child’s 18th birthday. Previously only parents with children under five were eligible for this EU-derived right.

The TUC believes that an additional four million working parents will be included in this workplace advantage, compared to the three million who had access when it just applied to pre-school children and disabled children.

Unpaid parental leave needs to be taken in weekly blocks, unless the employer agrees to a shorter period, and must be requested 21 days in advance. With schools breaking up for the summer holidays in the next couple of weeks, parents who might want to use this unpaid time off work should let their employers know as soon as possible.

This statutory entitlement could be a welcome asset for parents who struggle to find suitable and affordable holiday care schemes for their children during school holidays.

A recent report on sufficiency of childcare places identified holiday childcare as one of the most significant shortages, with 39 local authorities in England and Wales saying they have insufficient places for children in their area. Last summer, one in three working parents reported that they couldn’t find affordable holiday childcare and one in eight said they had given up work to look after their children.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Many parents face huge difficulties combining work with childcare during the school holidays.

“Many will be using paid annual leave to spend time with their children. But with school holidays lasting around 13 weeks and workers entitled to less than six weeks’ paid holiday a year, working parents need more support.
“Our message to employers is to be as supportive as they can when their staff request parental leave or need changes in their working hours over the summer holidays.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• The statutory right is to unpaid leave which has to be taken in blocks of one week. However, employers can go beyond the statutory minimum and pay the leave or allow it to be taken on a daily or more flexible basis.
• Employers can postpone parental leave for up to six months if they feel it would unduly disrupt the business.
• The TUC’s guides to leave and pay for working parents are available at www.tuc.org.uk/equality-issues/gender-equality/caring
• Family and Childcare Trust’s recent report on sufficiency of childcare places is available here:www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/access-denied-report-childcare-sufficien... and Family and Childcare Trust’s survey of holiday childcare costs in 2014 is available here: www.fct.bigmallet.co.uk/sites/default/files/files/Holiday_Childcare_Surv.... The 2015 holiday childcare costs survey will be available on 16 July.
• All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
• Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews