Requesting parental leave

Before you take parental leave, you’ll need to discuss your plans with your employer and put them in writing.

Letting your employer know

When planning parental leave, you will need to let your employer know by writing them an email or a letter with all the details. Before you write to them, check what leave you can take.

If you or your spouse or partner are:

Your letter or email must say:

If you’re sharing any part of your leave with your spouse or partner, the letter or email must also:

What to include with your letter

If you’re giving birth to the child, you must attach a copy of a certificate from your doctor or midwife showing:

If it’s your spouse or partner who is pregnant, you will also need to include a written letter from them saying that:

If you’re taking permanent primary responsibility for the care of a child under 6 years old, you will need to include one of the following with your letter:

If you cannot provide any of these, you will at least need to include a statutory declaration with your letter.

The Parental Leave and Employment Protection Regulations 2016 legislation has the wording you will need to use for a statutory declaration. You will find it under Form 1 of Schedule 2 of the regulations.

What happens next

Your employer has 7 days to respond to your letter and ask for more information if they need it. If they do ask you for more information, you must provide it within 14 days of their asking. Once your employer has all the information they need, they have 21 days to let you know:

Your employer must confirm the arrangements for your parental leave in writing. The letter will include:

Find out more about what happens while you are on parental leave and when you return to work, including what to do if you have a problem with parental leave.

When you can take parental leave again

As long as you meet the work criteria, you can take parental leave every time you have a baby, or a new child under the age of 6 comes into your care. However, at least 6 months must have elapsed since the end of your last period of parental leave, before you can take it again.

You can also get parental leave payments more than once, but you will need to meet the eligibility criteria for these each time too.