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Parental leave changes
Contents
Qualifying criteria changes
Parental leave is available to employees who are parents (following the birth or adoption of a child) and who have, or expect to have, legal responsibility for them.
Currently, an employee must be continuously employed for at least one year before qualifying to take leave.
However, from 6 April 2026, parental leave is set to become available to employees (with the requisite parental responsibility) from the day they start work (i.e. it'll become a day-one right).
Since 18 February 2026, employees can give the required notices and evidence for taking parental leave in advance, to ensure they can start taking their entitlement to leave on 6 April.
There is still no requirement for parental leave to be paid.