What types of family leave are employees entitled to?
Eligible employees have a variety of ‘family-friendly’ rights, including:
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maternity or adoption leave of up to one year. The first 39 weeks of leave are paid at a statutory rate. For the first six weeks, the rate is 90% of normal salary. For the remaining 33 weeks, the rate is £187.18 (as of 7 April 2025) or 90% of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). For more information, read Maternity leave and Adoption leave and pay
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two weeks of paid paternity leave (at either 90% of their average weekly earnings or £187.18, whichever is lower) plus the right to take any unused portion of the mother’s maternity leave. Read Shared parental leave for more information
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unpaid parental leave for up to 18 weeks before a child’s eighteenth birthday. Normally, only four weeks of parental leave can be taken in any year
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paid neonatal care leave of up to 12 weeks within the first 68 weeks of a child’s birth or adoption placement (at either 90% of their average weekly earnings or £187.18, whichever is lower). Read Neonatal care leave and pay for more information
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parental bereavement leave of up to two weeks within one year following the death (or stillbirth) of a child. Parental bereavement leave can be paid or unpaid - for more information, read Parental bereavement leave
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reasonable unpaid time off to deal with domestic emergencies. Read Bereavement leave and pay for more information
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unpaid carer’s leave of up to one week per year to provide or arrange for the long-term care of a dependant. For more information, read Carer’s leave
What about flexible working?
If an employee requests to work flexibly (including part-time or from home) in order to care for a dependent, then a statutory process applies. Because flexible working requests likely contain sensitive personal data (ie data that comes within the 'special categories' of personal data), employers must ensure that it is processed in accordance with their Data protection policy and Employee privacy notice. To avoid discrimination claims, such requests should only be refused where the decision can be objectively justified on clear business grounds. You should consider having in place a written Flexible working policy.
For more information, read Flexible working.
Tricky family issues for employers to consider
Family-friendly rights are complex and can give rise to tricky discrimination issues.
Difficult areas include the effect of leave on holiday, bonus, and pension rights or where the employer or employee wants to change the employment arrangements after the leave ends.
For more help with any of these issues, Ask a lawyer.
