LTB 227/13 - Parental Leave

[TrueBlueTerrier]

LTB 227/13 - Parental Leave

No. 227/2013
Ref: PTC/RE/srh/013
Date: 8 April 2013




TO ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS




Dear Colleague


RE: PARENTAL LEAVE


Branches will be aware that parental leave is a form of statutory unpaid leave available to eligible employees for the purpose of caring for a child.


From 8 March 2013, the total amount of unpaid leave that can be taken increased from 13 to 18 weeks for each child. Eligibility for taking parental leave and when, why and how it can be taken remains unchanged. To be eligible, an individual must be an employee of Royal Mail Group with at least one year’s service, and must be a birth or adoptive parent, or have or expect to have parental responsibilities for a child. An eligible employee can take the leave at any time up until the child’s 5th birthday, or in relation to an adopted child to the 5th anniversary of their adoption (or 18th birthday if sooner) and in relation to a disabled child, to their 18th birthday. The purpose of the leave is for caring for the child - this is fairly wide in scope and can include, for example, simply spending more time with family, settling into childcare and looking at schools.


Royal Mail Group has amended their parental leave policy to reflect this change in legislation and the revised policy and guide is available on both the Policy and Information sites and through the PSP system.


Branches should be reminded that parental leave is separate to the other time off guide policy which would enable people to receive either paid or unpaid special leave for issues such as urgent domestic distress.


Any enquiries should be addressed to Ray Ellis’s department, quoting reference PTC/RE/srh/013. Email address: rellis@cwu.org


Yours sincerely