Time off to care for children
If your child is unexpectedly sick
This does not apply to:
- routine doctor's appointments
- clinic appointments
- routine childhood vaccinations
- illnesses such as chickenpox
These should be accommodated either by flexible working arrangements or by:
- taking annual leave
- flex leave
- authorised unpaid leave
It applies when, for example, if your child is unexpectedly admitted to hospital.
Service directors are authorised to grant:
- up to one week’s leave of absence on full pay
- one week’s leave of absence on half pay
Please refer to the compassionate and special leave procedure (download below).
Parental bereavement and serious or terminal illness
Should the unthinkable happen, and you were to lose a child under 18 years or have suffered still birth from week 24 onwards, we offer two weeks paid bereavement leave and the maternity scheme may apply, please contact your manager or HR for further advice.
It may also be comforting to know that service directors are authorised to grant up to four weeks paid leave of absence to an employee needing to care for a chronically sick or terminally ill member of their immediate family should your child take expectantly seriously ill.
Your service director and the service director for HR will consider granting a further period of three months at half-pay following an examination of the circumstances.
There are many conditions around the details of bereavement leave and caring for chronic or terminally ill children and family members, so please refer to the compassionate and special leave procedure (download below) to ensure you're clear on your entitlement.
You'll need to complete the compassionate and special leave request form (download below) and send it to your line manager.
Parental leave
You must have one year’s continuous service with us by the time you plan to take parental leave to qualify.
As parents (or adoptive parents) of children who are under 18 years old you have a statutory right to apply for parental leave.
All requests must be made in writing by completing the appropriate compassionate and special leave request form, and attaching any relevant documentation.
Both mothers and fathers can apply for parental leave providing you are named on the child’s birth certificate or have parental or guardian responsibility under the law.
The entitlement to parental leave is 18 weeks (in total) unpaid leave for each child, subject to a maximum entitlement of four weeks unpaid leave per year. Conditions apply so please refer to the compassionate and special leave procedure (download below).
If you're on maternity leave and wish to extend it by four weeks, your manager may consider such a request. However, the granting of such requests will be dependent on the demand of the service.
If parental leave is granted following a period of maternity leave, this period will not count towards the required return to work period of three months for occupational maternity pay purposes.
Wherever possible, requests for parental leave will be facilitated. However in exceptional circumstances and for operational reasons, we may need to postpone approval for parental leave for a period not exceeding six calendar months.
A postponement of parental leave may not happen where parental leave has been requested immediately after childbirth or immediately after placement for adoption.
Compassionate and special leave request form (download below)