Parental Leave policy (PS 154)

SECTION 2 AIMS / OBJECTIVES

Nottinghamshire Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) is committed to delivering the highest standards of policing to the communities of Nottinghamshire through the utilisation of a highly trained, skilled, and motivated workforce. Fundamental to that commitment is the development of work-life balance initiatives that will enhance the maintenance of an efficient, effective, and diverse workforce.

Nottinghamshire Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner recognise that all police officers and police staff should have a healthy work-life balance and have the ability to combine a career with parenthood. This links to our organisational aspiration to be an ‘employer of choice’. Parental leave is provided to allow working parents to achieve a more balanced work and family life, take time off to look after a child or make arrangements for a child’s welfare. Parental Leave is a separate and additional leave facility to those provided for under Paternity, Shared Parental, Maternity and Adoption Leave.

The aim of the policy is to provide clear and consistent information for police officers and police staff on the provision of parental leave. Parental leave is to allow a parent to spend more time with a child aged up to 18 years of age. Nottinghamshire Police will facilitate parental leave whilst ensuring that there are sufficient resources available to meet operational requirements.

SECTION 3 DETAILS

3.1. Scope

The policy applies to police officers and police staff working for Nottinghamshire Police and staff of the OPCC. There are no differences between police officer, police staff and staff of the OPCC’s entitlements. Police staff refers to staff of Nottinghamshire Police and the OPCC.

3.2. Key principles

• Requests for parental leave will be considered in a fair, timely and consistent manner taking into account operational requirements
• The qualifying period of employment for police staff or service for police officers required to take parental leave is 1 year
• The parent must be named on the birth certificate or have parental responsibility under the law for the child. In some cases, the legal responsibility will have passed to a guardian
• Parental leave is unpaid and has to be taken for the purpose of caring for the child
• During the period of unpaid parental leave any allowances normally paid to a police officer and police staff will cease

3.3 Eligibility

Both parents of a child are eligible to take parental leave. To be eligible to apply for parental leave one of the following criteria must be met. The individual applying must have continuous service/employment of one year or more.

The individual must have parental responsibility for the child. This means they must be named on one of the following:

• The child’s birth certificate or adoption certificate or they have or expect to have parental responsibility
• A parental order for surrogacy
• A legal guardianship
• The child is under 18 years old

Individuals who are not foster parent (unless they have secured parental responsibility through the courts).

Step parents can also have parental responsibility where it’s agreed between all parents.

If someone is separated from the other parent or does not live with their child, they still have the right to parental leave if they have parental responsibility for their child.

3.4 Entitlement

• Each parent can take up to 18 weeks unpaid leave for each child until each child is 18 years old.• Each parent can take up to 18 weeks unpaid leave for each child until each child is 18 years old
• The leave must be taken in blocks of a week. If the child is disabled, then parental leave can be taken as individual days (to be calculated in hours based on normal working hours). A ‘week’ equals the length of time the individual normally works over 7 days
• An individual may take a maximum of 4 weeks per leave year for each child. The leave must be taken before the child’s 18th birthday

Taking parental leave for a disabled child

An employee can take parental leave in blocks of days rather than weeks if they receive one of the following for their child:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment

Carrying leave over from a previous job

Parental leave applies to each child not to an individual’s job.

Example. An employee is entitled to 18 weeks. The individual has used 10 weeks with a previous employer. Therefore, they can only use 8 weeks with Nottinghamshire Police or the OPCC if they are eligible.

3.5 Pension

• Individuals have the option of paying pension contributions on any period of unpaid leave of more than 2 weeks on their return to work to keep pension service continuous
• Throughout the period of parental leave employment remains unchanged and continuous for the purposes of employment, pay and leave

Any person requiring pension advice is advised to contact the Pensions Administrator

XPS Administration via:

• Email to: [email protected]
• Phone on: 0330 0545503

Police Staff - LGPS administrator and website: www.lgps.org.uk

• Telephone: (0115) 977 2727
• Email: [email protected]

SECTION 4 LEGISLATIVE COMPLIANCE

This document has been drafted to comply with the general and specific duties in the Equality Act 2010; Data Protection Act 2018; Freedom of Information Act; European Convention on Human Rights; Employment Act 2002; Employment Relations Act 1999; Children and Families Act 2014 and other legislation relevant to policing.

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PS 154:
Parental Leave Policy

Type of Document:
Policy

Version:
3.1

Registered Owner:
Head of People Services and Organisational Development

Author/Reviewer:
Susan Sullivan

Effective Date:
March 2024

Review Date:
March 2029

Replaces Document (if applicable):
N/A

Linked Documents:
PS179 Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental and Adoption Leave Policy
PS150 Discretionary Leave Policy
PD 615 Parental Leave Procedure
G 2028 Parental Leave Form