Unpaid parental leave

Each parent can take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave for each child, at any point until the child’s 18th birthday. You can normally take no more than 4 weeks a year for each child, and the leave is taken in whole weeks. Since 6 April 2026 it has been a day-one right for employees, so no qualifying period of service with your employer is needed.

What it is for

Parental leave is time off to look after your child’s welfare, and the purposes are wide. You might spend more time with a young child, settle them into nursery or school, visit secondary schools, stay with grandparents, or cover part of a long school holiday. It differs from time off for dependants, which is for sudden emergencies and is usually a day or two at short notice.

The leave is unpaid. Your contract continues while you are off, so you keep building up statutory holiday and keep your contractual benefits, and you return to the same job.

Who can take it

You need to be an employee and have, or expect to have, parental responsibility for the child. That includes birth parents, adoptive parents, and anyone named on the birth certificate or with legal parental responsibility. Workers who are not employees, such as some agency and casual staff, do not have the statutory right.

Each parent has their own 18 weeks per child. Two parents with three children could each take up to 54 weeks over the children’s lives, within the yearly limit for each child.

The limits

Rule	Detail
Total per child	18 weeks per parent
Age limit	Until the child’s 18th birthday
Yearly limit	Normally no more than 4 weeks per child per year
Unit	Whole weeks
Qualifying service	None since 6 April 2026

A “week” is the length of your normal working week. If you work three days a week, a week of parental leave is three working days. Taking a single day counts as a full week unless your employer agrees otherwise, which many public sector employers do. If your child is disabled, you can take the leave in single days without using up a full week each time.

The yearly cap and whole-week rule are defaults. Your contract or a workforce agreement can set different rules, such as allowing single days or more than 4 weeks in a year, and NHS, council and school policies often do.

Giving notice and postponement

Give notice before the leave starts. Gov.uk sets out the minimum notice period. Writing it down is sensible, though the law only requires it if your employer’s scheme does.

Your employer can postpone parental leave if your absence would cause serious disruption, for example during a school’s exam season or a peak period on a hospital ward. It must give you written reasons and offer new dates within a limited period. It cannot postpone leave you want to take straight after a birth or adoption. Since 18 February 2026 you have been able to give notice for leave that falls on or after 6 April 2026.

Using it in public sector jobs

Teachers are an awkward fit. The school holidays already cover much of what parental leave is meant for, and leave in term time is more likely to be postponed. Some schools prefer requests timed around half-term to limit disruption.

In the NHS and councils, parental leave is often booked to cover gaps in childcare or a school transition. If you need a longer-term change, a flexible working request for different hours or a compressed week may suit better than repeated weeks of unpaid leave. Flexible working is also a day-one right.

Pay, pension and benefits

Because the leave is unpaid, your take-home pay drops for the month you take it. Pension contributions are based on the pay you receive, so they drop too, and each public sector scheme has rules on unpaid leave and whether you can make up the gap. Ask payroll how the deduction will be made before you book, especially if you take several weeks together.

If your employer refuses parental leave you are entitled to, or treats you badly for taking it, raise it with HR first. ACAS and your union rep can advise, and our guide to the Employment Rights Act 2025 covers the April 2026 changes. If you care for an adult relative with a long-term care need, see carer’s leave.