Support for working parents
Family-friendly policies are at the forefront of supporting parents into work and improving retention of staff for any company
Working parents should know their rights to maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave and flexible working in order to raise and support their families.
- Maternity leave
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There are two lengths of maternity leave: Ordinary Maternity Leave and Additional Maternity Leave.
As an employee you are entitled to 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave. Additional Maternity Leave lasts for 26 weeks and starts at the end of Ordinary Maternity Leave.
The combined 52 weeks is known as Statutory Maternity Leave. Provided you meet certain notification requirements, you can take this no matter how long you've been with your employer, how many hours you work or how much you're paid.
Eligibility for maternity leave and how to claim
If you do not qualify for statutory maternity pay you may be eligible for Maternity Allowance.
- Paternity leave
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When you take time off because your partner’s having a baby, adopting a child or having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement you might be eligible for:
- 1 or 2 weeks paid paternity leave
- Shared Parental Leave, if your child was due or placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015
- Unpaid parental leave
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Eligible employees can take unpaid parental leave to look after their child’s welfare, eg to:
- spend more time with their children
- look at new schools
- settle children into new childcare arrangements
- spend more time with family, such as visiting grandparents
- Shared parental leave
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You may be able to get Shared Parental Leave and Statutory Shared Parental Pay if you’re having a baby or adopting a child.
- Time off for family dependants
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As an employee you’re allowed time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant.
There’s no set amount of time as it depends on the situation.
Further information about time off for family and dependents
- Flexible working
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Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.
All employees have the legal right to request flexible working - not just parents and carers.
- Arranging childcare at short notice
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There are times when emergency childcare could be needed. To be prepared you could:
- build up a list of possible childcarers your child knows well - perhaps childminders who are friends with your childminder
- reserve some annual leave for emergencies
- contact the Hampshire Family Information Service for help in searching for local childcare services and guidance regarding schemes to help with childcare costs.
- arrange flexible working options like term-time work, flexi-hours, part-time work or jobsharer
- use leave options, like extended maternity leave or paternity leave for fathers around the time babies are born
Phone 0300 555 1384
Email [email protected]
- Further information for working parents