Parental Leave Policy

What you’re legally entitled to in the UK:

Maternity Leave

Mothers in the UK are legally entitled to up to 52 weeks (1 year) of maternity leave after childbirth. This is a law called ‘Statutory Maternity Leave’ that is aimed at supporting and protecting new mothers. 

Maternity Leave consists of 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and is followed by 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave (AML). All women are entitled to OML and AML from the first day of their employment. This differs slightly from Paternity Leave.

Paternal Leave 

In the UK, you are legally entitled to up to 2 weeks of paternity leave if you have been employed continuously for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the child's birth. 

What [X company] offers:

If you’ve worked at [X company] for [X time], you’re entitled to: 

  • [X amount] maternity leave 
  • [X amount] paternity leave 
  • [X amount] parental leave 

What will I be paid?

If you’re an employee, and you’ve been with the company for [X years] at the date the baby is due, then you will be entitled to:

  • [X amount] maternity pay
  • [X amount] paternity pay
  • [X amount] parental pay.

This will be inclusive of any statutory pay. We will follow all statutory guidance depending on the country you’re in. For more information about this please speak to the People Team.

How much notice do I need to give?

There are some statutory requirements when it comes to notifying us about your parental leave.

Please let [X person] know as soon as you feel comfortable sharing about when you’re planning to take leave. You should follow local legislation as it can vary by location. In any case, you must let us know at the very latest by the end of the 15th week.

Adoption time-frames can be a bit more unpredictable, but again please just let us know as soon as possible.

Please make sure you complete our parental leave checklist!

Ante-natal appointments

You’re entitled to PTO for attending ante-natal appointments. Please give us as much notice as possible and be sure to update your calendar so your team knows you’re not available.

Returning to work

We want to make sure you're feeling excited and supported when returning back to work, so we’ll collaborate with you on this when the time comes. We will likely have agreed a return date before you go off, however if anything changes please remember you need to give 8 weeks notice of when you plan on coming back.