In GP practices, we like our employees to stay focussed and committed to their work. But sometimes in an individual’s life, family must come first. That’s why there are multiple types of statutory family leave in the UK, all with their own eligibility criteria and entitlements. The most obvious of these is maternity leave, but how many others can you name off the top of your head? In this blog, I’ll do a whistle-stop tour of all the different leave types. There might even be some that take you by surprise!

Maternity Leave

I’ve already mentioned it, so I might as well start here. An employee who gives birth is legally entitled to up to 52 weeks of maternity leave. The first two weeks following birth are compulsory, the rest is up to them.

Calculating someone’s entitlement to pay during maternity leave is a notorious HR and payroll head-scratcher. The rules are complex and take some getting used to. Your newer employees may not receive any pay entitlement at all (though they’ll probably be eligible for Maternity Allowance via Jobcentre Plus, if that’s the case), whilst more established employees will receive 90% of their usual pay for six weeks, followed by up to 33 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). Some practices offer enhanced pay entitlement within their own contracts and policies.

Paternity Leave

Employees who meet minimum length of service criteria and who have co-responsibility for a new baby (usually, but not always, as fathers) may take up to two weeks of paternity leave. They’ll be eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP). Some practices may offer enhanced terms as standard.

Adoption Leave

This works very similarly to maternity leave but is designed for a new adoptive parent. The criteria are strict, meaning that this doesn’t apply to those who foster, or to kinship carers.

Shared Parental Leave

Most practice managers (and employees) love the concept of shared parental leave, but hate the complex rules and administration involved. It allows an employee on maternity or adoption leave to ‘share’ this entitlement with their partner – meaning that the leave is divided between them. Some employees are eligible for Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP).

As the scheme is intentionally flexible about the ways in which entitlement can be shared, the statutory procedure to request and grant shared parental leave can seem mind-bogglingly complicated for all parties. However, parents and employers who take the time to puzzle it out usually find the results very rewarding.

Parental Bereavement Leave

Nobody wants their employees to experience anything as devastating as this, but very occasionally a baby or child dies, and their parent is legally entitled to two weeks’ bereavement leave. Depending on length of service, they may be entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP). In practice, most employers would feel moved to offer at least some of this leave at full pay if possible.

As an aside, parental bereavement leave is the only form of statutory bereavement or compassionate leave entitlement currently available to employees. Most GP practices offer some paid or unpaid leave for these purposes though.

Emergency Time off for Dependants

Almost every GP practice will have experienced occasions when an employee requests last-minute time off to look after a sick child or other dependant. However, despite the frequency with which this form of family leave is requested, it’s one that is regularly misunderstood.

An employee is entitled by law to take unpaid time off to arrange care for a dependant. Theoretically, this should be just long enough to find a babysitter or willing relative to provide care. However, for employees without close family networks, it may be impossible to find anyone other than themselves who’s available to administer appropriate cuddles and Calpol. Therefore, whilst employers can and should encourage staff to restrict the amount of emergency time they take, it’s also important to show patience regarding whatever stressful situation the employee is dealing with at the time.

Sometimes emergency time off for dependants is mistakenly recorded and paid as sick leave. If you think your practice might be guilty of doing this, I urge you to review things. Confusing dependant leave and sickness can make absence management processes more difficult, and it increases the risk of unintended sex discrimination (as, statistically, women are far more likely than men to take dependant leave).

Parental Leave

Haven’t we covered this already? Well, actually, no. Buried deep in most staff handbooks is an entitlement to a form of unpaid leave known as ordinary parental leave. (This isn’t to be confused with shared parental leave or parental bereavement leave, which I’ve already mentioned.) Parental leave is rarely used in my experience, but can be useful for employees who want to extend another type of family leave, are going through significant family changes, or are just struggling with childcare over the summer. An employee needs to have at least 12 months’ service in order to submit a request, which they must do well in advance. It allows the employee to take up to four full weeks off per child, unpaid. Employers are expected to grant requests where possible but can potentially push back the employee’s suggested dates for business continuity reasons.

New and upcoming forms of family leave

I express some caution about the details that follow, as politics is politics and things can change, but currently the UK Government is supporting bills through Parliament that would introduce two additional types of family leave entitlement for employees. The first is a one-week entitlement to unpaid leave for carers. The second is an entitlement of up to 12 weeks’ paid leave for parents of new babies that spend seven days or more in neonatal care.

We don’t yet know when either of these new forms of family leave will be launched officially, but keep an eye on the HR Updates section of the Practice Index website where further details will be published when available.

A few general points about family leave

Those are all the different types of family leave that I can think of as a HR professional! But there are some general points to make which apply to them all.

Firstly, remember that employees mustn’t experience discrimination or disadvantage as a result of requesting family leave. For example, to dismiss a female employee because they’d requested four weeks of parental leave over the summer holidays could potentially lead to successful tribunal claims for both unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.

Secondly, bear in mind that whilst we might assume that certain forms of family leave are more likely to be requested by employees of one gender than another, there are always potential exceptions and the language in your policies and communications should ideally reflect this. A female employee in a same-sex relationship may request paternity leave, for example, or a trans male / non-binary employee may take maternity leave. Legal entitlement is based on situation and need, rather than gender.

And finally, as a GP practice manager, you may be familiar with the BMA model employment contract for salaried GPs. This gives enhanced entitlement to most forms of family leave, and you must ensure that you comply with its provisions where relevant.

Policies for family leave

Are you reading this and thinking that perhaps your internal HR policies are missing something or need refreshing? Don’t worry, Practice Index has everything covered. Below is a list of template family leave policies which are available for PLUS members. And don’t forget, accurately recording leave is important for both your practice and your team, and using Holiday Manager, you can easily add and classify the type of absence.

Maternity Leave Policy [PLUS]

Paternity Leave Policy [PLUS]

Adoption Leave Policy [PLUS]

Shared Parental Leave Policy [PLUS]

Parental Bereavement Leave Policy [PLUS]

Time Off for Dependants Policy [PLUS]

Unpaid Parental Leave Policy [PLUS]

Questions

Do you have any questions about family leave, or tips to share? Please post them below!