Staff Handbook

14.Parental Leave You will be entitled to (unpaid) parental leave if you are a parent (including adoptive parents) and you have 1 year’s service with the Company. You will be entitled to up to 18 weeks’ leave for the purpose of caring for the child up to the child’s 18 th birthday. Leave must be taken in a minimum of 1 week blocks (except for where a child is disabled then leave may be taken as single days or multiples of 1 day) and is limited to a maximum of 4 weeks in any year for each child. At least 21 days’ notice must be provided and leave may be postponed apart from leave taken immediately after the birth or adoption, depending on the needs of the Company. Any employee with at least 26 weeks’ continuous service, may make a request for flexible working. However, you may not make a request if you have made a flexible working request in the preceding 12 months. Making a request A request for flexible working should be made in writing to your line manager and should set out: • The fact that it is a request for flexible working; • The change that is being requested (e.g. to working hours, times of work, place of work, etc.); • The effect that you think this change would have on the Company, and • how you think the effect of the change might be dealt with. N.B. Any change agreed under this section would be a permanent change to your terms and conditions of employment and you would not have the right to revert back to your original working pattern. Any change which resulted in a reduction in hours would also result in a commensurate reduction in pay. Consideration of the request Your line manager will consider the request and will write to you as soon as possible informing you of their decision but you should take into account that the whole procedure may take up to three months from submission of your request. 15.Flexible Working Eligibility

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