Each parent can take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child at any time until the child turns 18. The default cap is 4 weeks per child per year, taken in blocks of one week or more (single days only for a disabled child). From 6 April 2026 it is a day-one right - the previous 1-year service requirement is gone. Notice is at least 21 days. The employer can postpone up to 6 months if the absence would seriously disrupt the business, but cannot postpone leave around birth or adoption.
What unpaid parental leave is (and isn't)
Ordinary parental leave - usually called "unpaid parental leave" - is the right for each parent to take up to 18 weeks of unpaid time off per child until that child's 18th birthday. It exists separately from every other family-related leave and is often confused with them. Quick separator:
| Right | What it is | Paid? |
|---|---|---|
| Unpaid parental leave | Up to 18 weeks per child up to age 18, taken when needed for childcare | Unpaid |
| Maternity leave | Up to 52 weeks for the birth mother, around the child's birth | 39 weeks SMP |
| Paternity leave | 1 or 2 weeks for the partner within 52 weeks of birth or placement | Up to 2 weeks SPP |
| Adoption leave | Up to 52 weeks for the primary adopter | 39 weeks SAP |
| Shared parental leave | Up to 50 weeks shared between partners after curtailing maternity or adoption leave | Up to 37 weeks ShPP |
| Time off for dependants | "Reasonable" unpaid time off in genuine emergencies (e.g. school sends sick child home) | Unpaid |
Unpaid parental leave is for planned care - looking at schools, settling a child into a new arrangement, going on a long family trip, or simply spending more time together in a child's early years. Time off for dependants is for the unplanned emergency. The two rights are independent and can be used in the same year.
It is unpaid by design. The whole point of the right is that it sits underneath the paid family leaves. A parent can use it to extend a period off after maternity leave (using the 4 weeks per year), to bridge to school holidays, or to take chunks during a child's early years without burning their annual leave.
The 6 April 2026 day-one change
Until 5 April 2026, unpaid parental leave required 1 year's continuous service with the employer. That qualifying period was removed by the Employment Rights Act 2025 and the linked commencement regulations. The change happened on 6 April 2026.
This is part of a wider package of day-one rights that came in on the same date - paternity leave became a day-one right too, and SSP became payable from the first day of sickness. For the broader picture see our SSP 2026 guide and paternity leave employer guide.
Update your contracts and handbooks. Any reference to a "1 year qualifying period" or "12 months' continuous service" for parental leave is now wrong. Removing that line is the simplest fix - day-one right with the rest of the rules unchanged.
Eligibility: who can take it
To qualify, an employee must:
- Be an employee (not a worker, agency worker, or self-employed person)
- Have parental responsibility for the child - that means being named on the child's birth certificate, having an adoption order, having a parental order in a surrogacy arrangement, or having parental responsibility under a court order
- Be taking the leave to care for that child - the right is for childcare, not for personal projects
- Have a child under 18 - the leave entitlement runs to the day before the child's 18th birthday
Step-parents can have parental responsibility where it is granted formally. Foster carers do not have parental responsibility (the local authority does) and so do not qualify, even though they are providing day-to-day care. Same-sex parents are treated identically to opposite-sex parents - both birth parents on the birth certificate qualify.
Employees who have separated from their partner can still take the leave provided they retain ongoing responsibility for bringing up the child.
Evidence is reasonable to ask for. The employer can ask for documentary evidence of parental responsibility - a birth certificate, adoption order or parental order. Asking once at the start of the relationship is standard practice. Asking for evidence repeatedly is not.
How much can be taken: 18 weeks per child, 4 per year
The headline is 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child, used at any point up to the child's 18th birthday. Each parent has their own 18-week allowance per child - so a couple has 36 weeks between them per child.
The annual cap matters more than the lifetime total for most employees. Under the statutory fall-back scheme, an employee cannot take more than 4 weeks per child in any leave year. So in practice:
The 18-week pot per child follows the employee between jobs. If they took 8 weeks at a previous employer for that child, they have 10 weeks left, not a fresh 18. The new employer can ask the previous employer or the employee for confirmation. This is one reason the leave year matters less than you might expect - the lifetime ledger is what it is.
The "leave year" is whatever the contract says. If the contract is silent, it is the year starting on the date the employee first qualified for parental leave. Most employers align it with the holiday year for simplicity. Make sure your contract or handbook is explicit so the 4-week annual cap can be tracked cleanly.
How leave must be taken: weeks, not days
Under the statutory fall-back scheme, leave must be taken in blocks of one full week or multiples of a week. Half-week and single-day blocks are not allowed by default. There is one exception:
- Leave to care for a disabled child (one who is in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Adult Disability Payment in Scotland, or Child Disability Payment in Scotland) can be taken in single days as well as longer blocks.
The "week" measure is one of the employee's normal working weeks. So for someone working five days a week, one week of parental leave is five days off; for someone working three days a week, it is three days off.
Employers can agree more flexible arrangements - including daily blocks for any child, not just disabled children - through a workforce agreement or by writing the better terms into individual contracts. Many SMEs do exactly this because the strict-week rule creates awkward edges (a parent who needs two days for hospital appointments cannot use the right at all under the default).
A workforce agreement is a written collective agreement signed by representatives elected by the affected employees. For organisations under 20 staff it can be signed by a majority of the employees themselves. It is the formal mechanism for varying the statutory default - you cannot just put "we allow daily blocks" in the staff handbook unilaterally.
Notice rules
The statutory notice is at least 21 days before the leave is due to start. The notice should specify:
- The date the employee wants the leave to begin
- The date they expect to return to work
- The reason for the leave (broadly - "to care for [child] during [school break]" is fine)
For leave around the birth of a child, the notice should be given at least 21 days before the expected week of childbirth (the leave would then begin on the date the baby is actually born). For adoption, at least 21 days before the expected placement date.
Notice does not have to be in writing unless the employer requires it, but it is good practice to put it in writing on both sides - request and confirmation.
Build it into the request workflow. A simple online form (or your leave management tool) that captures: which child, dates, reason, and any evidence of parental responsibility on file - keeps the file tidy and prevents the most common dispute, which is over how much of the lifetime 18-week pot has already been used.
When an employer can postpone
The employer can postpone parental leave for up to 6 months from the requested start date if the absence would unduly disrupt the business. To do so legally, the employer must:
Some leave cannot be postponed:
- Leave around the birth of a child - if the employee says they want to take parental leave starting on the date the baby is born, that is non-postponable
- Leave around an adoption placement - same principle, parents need to be present at the start
- Leave to care for a disabled child - especially in single-day blocks
The leave must still be taken before the child's 18th birthday. So an employer cannot postpone past that point, and the employee does not lose the right - the right just sits in the pot.
Refusing entirely (rather than postponing) is unlawful. The employer cannot say no to parental leave, only "not now". An employee can complain to an employment tribunal if leave is refused, postponed unreasonably or repeatedly, or if they are subjected to detriment for taking or requesting it. There is no qualifying period for these claims.
How it interacts with other types of leave
With maternity, paternity, and adoption leave
Unpaid parental leave is a separate entitlement and can be taken either side of the paid family leaves. A common pattern after the April 2026 reforms:
- Mother takes 39 weeks of paid maternity leave + the 13 weeks of unpaid AML to make 52 weeks
- Mother then takes 4 weeks of unpaid parental leave at the end to extend to 56 weeks total
- Partner stacks 2 weeks paternity leave + up to 4 weeks unpaid parental leave around the birth, possibly plus shared parental leave if eligible
This stacking has always been possible but the day-one right means a partner who has just joined a new employer can now access the 4 weeks unpaid parental leave that would previously have been blocked by the 1-year rule.
With annual leave
Annual leave continues to accrue at the normal rate during unpaid parental leave. Treat it like sickness or maternity in this respect - the employee does not "earn down" their statutory holiday because of the absence. The 5.6 weeks of statutory leave under the Working Time Regulations is unaffected.
With time off for dependants
The two rights are completely separate and can be used in the same year for the same child. Time off for dependants is for genuine emergencies (a few hours or a day to deal with a crisis); unpaid parental leave is for planned care.
Sample unpaid parental leave policy
1. Entitlement. Any employee with parental responsibility for a child under the age of 18 is entitled to up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child, available from the first day of employment. The leave is in addition to maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave.
2. Annual cap. Up to 4 weeks of unpaid parental leave can be taken per child in any leave year. The leave year for this purpose is the company's holiday year (1 January to 31 December) [adjust to fit].
3. How leave is taken. Leave must be taken in blocks of one or more full weeks. For employees with responsibility for a disabled child, leave can also be taken in single-day blocks. The company can agree more flexible arrangements case-by-case.
4. Notice. The employee must give at least 21 days' written notice to their line manager and HR, specifying the start and end dates and the reason for the leave (e.g. settling a child into a new school, family travel, hospital appointments). Evidence of parental responsibility may be requested at the start of the relationship.
5. Postponement. The company can postpone leave for up to 6 months if the absence would unduly disrupt the business. The line manager will write to the employee within 7 days of the request explaining the reason and proposing an alternative period. Leave to be taken around the birth of a child, around an adoption placement, or to care for a disabled child cannot be postponed.
6. Cumulative pot. The 18-week entitlement per child is cumulative across employers - leave taken at a previous employer counts towards the total. The employee may be asked to confirm how much has previously been used.
7. Pay and benefits. Unpaid parental leave is unpaid. Annual leave continues to accrue, and pension contributions, life assurance and other contractual benefits continue as if the employee were working, unless varied by contract.
8. Return to work. An employee returning from a single block of 4 weeks or less has the right to return to the same role. After a longer combined absence (for example combined with maternity leave), the right to return depends on what is reasonably practicable.
Sources
FAQs
This is not legal advice. The 6 April 2026 reforms are recent and some details (workforce agreements, evidence of parental responsibility) can be fiddly. For advice on a specific situation, consult an employment solicitor or call the ACAS helpline on 0300 123 1100 (free).