Parental leave and if you can get time off work to look after your children during school holidays

Parents may be entitled to time off work to look after their children over school holidays

With so many school holidays during the year, many parents are unable to take time off work to be with their children.

Whether it's the Easter break, half-term, the summer holidays or Christmas, a lot of families have to organise childcare, often through holiday clubs or getting help from friends or relatives. This is particularly a problem for working parents who may not have enough annual leave to take during the year to cover all the days off children get.

And many might wonder if they can actually get any extra time off work to look after their youngsters during their school holidays, if they don't have any childcare available. If you are allowed to do that, will the leave be paid or unpaid?

Here, we have looked at the rules around parental leave, when you can take it and if you will get paid during that leave. Acas, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, which offers advice on workplace rights, and the Citizens Advice charity, have both outlined what parental leave involves and what rights parents have.

Their advice is summarised below as a guide. However, parents are advised to speak to their employers and check their contracts to see what rules they have in place. You can find more information on the Acas website here or the Citizens Advice site here.

Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/uk-news/parental-leave-you-can-time-31319382