Parents who work

Every parent's situation is different and employment options and opportunities can vary.  The information provided here is not a comprehensive statement of your rights or the law, and you should always consult your contract and your employer for more details about your own situation. If you are unsure, then you can contact an organisation specialising in qualified legal advice such as ACAS or your Citizen's Advice Bureau, who can help you further.

Considerations for working parents
As parents who work, you’ll have to consider:
- Childcare Options
- Working hours
- Leave
- Financial Assistance

Childcare Options
As a working parent, you'll revisit the various options for balancing working life with childcare. You'll probably begin thinking about childcare options, almost as soon as you begin thinking about your birth plan or decorating the nursery. As your child reaches key developmental stages, he or she will have changing needs. Read more about initial childcare options...
- Informal childcare such as family and friends
- Out of home childcare such as childminders and nurseries
- In home childcare such as nannies, mothers' helps and au pairs from an agency or employing your own.

See our section on Finding the right childcare

Further Childcare Options – After School Clubs
One or both parents may choose to go back to work at a later stage, once your child has reached school age. In this case, your hours will not always fit in with your child's school day. More and more schools are offering “breakfast” and “after school” clubs. Some local authorities and private companies also offer “holiday clubs”. These may be located at your child's school or at a community centre. You might decide to limit the use of such clubs so that your child doesn't feel they are spending all day at school. You might know if the club is suitable just by visiting or because your child's friends attend, but it might also be a good idea to have a mini questionnaire covering areas such as:
- Whether the club is registered or approved to enable you to claim costs back through Tax Credits
- Facilities and activities on offer
- Staff illness policy. Most clubs are unlikely to close due to staff illness and staff cover is usually arranged
- Whether siblings can be cared for. Sometimes this is not possible and you will need to arrange different care for siblings
- The maximum age limit, as some don't cater for older children

Working Hours
Working Flexible or Reduced Hours
You have the right to request flexible or reduced working hours. This could be initiated by you. It could also be offered by your employer in connection with your health and safety assessment or in your contract or company policy, so it is a good idea to check first.

Considerations
What hours do you want?
There are various ways of working flexible or reduced hours. 

Considerations
Advantages  
- Reducing your hours can give you the opportunity of combining paid work and caring roles  
- You can continue earning a regular wage while giving you time for other activities you want to be involved in which make you little or no money  
- You can keep up your skills and be up to date with developments, rather than taking a complete break from work  
- Hours could be reduced temporarily, if your job is not suitable for permanent reduction of hours
- It may help your employer by freeing up desk space and enabling team flexibility. It may reduce recruitment costs through efficiency of cover
- It can improve quality of productivity, staff turnover and absenteeism. Staff morale is usually better. An employer may also benefit from two sets of skills and ideas, for example, in a job share arrangement
 

Disadvantages  
- Financial - you may earn less money. This may depend on travelling and childcare costs;
- Career and promotion prospects may be reduced ;
- You may experience less job satisfaction;
- The tasks and responsibilities of your job may not be suitable for working reduced or flexible hours;
- It is a common problem that part-time workers try and do a full-time workers workload, and there may be pressure to work longer than the hours agreed  ;
- There could be some resentment from people working full-time. There may be resentment from your employer due to more planning and initial cost required to set up reduced hours, however, most employers conclude that these are more than compensated for by improved productivity and lower absenteeism and staff turnover;
- It may have a negative impact on the business or clients if not carefully planned.

The Law
New guidance came into effect on April 6 2007, building on the Work and Families Act 2006, about the right to request and the duty to consider flexible working. It means that parents of children under 6 (or under 18, if disabled) and carers of certain adults have a legal right to request flexible working and their employers have a duty to seriously consider it. It formalises the framework for making the request although many employers are willing to consider an informal request from any employee. Bear in mind that the statutory process can take up to 14 weeks, therefore any request must be made with due regard to time. If an employer agrees to your request, this will result in a permanent change to your contract of employment, unless agreed otherwise in writing. Before beginning the procedure, you may wish to check whether your contract of employment and company policy allow you to work flexibly.

Eligibility
In order to qualify for the new right you must: 
- Have a child under 6 years old, or under 18 years old if the child receives Disability Living Allowance  
- Be responsible for the child. The reason for the request must be for you to care for the child 
- Make the request no later than two weeks before the child's 6th (or 18th) birthday - Have worked for your employer continuously for at least 26 weeks when you make the request 
- You cannot be an agency worker or a member of the armed forces 
- You cannot have made an another application under the same right during the previous year

Employees’ rights
- To apply to work flexibly
- To have their application considered properly in accordance with the set procedure and refused only where there is a clear business ground for doing so
- To have a companion when meeting the employer to discuss the application
- Where an application is refused, to have a written explanation
- To appeal against an employer’s decision to refuse an application
- To take a complaint to a tribunal in certain circumstances
- To be protected from detriment or dismissal for making an application under the right

Employees’ responsibilities
- To provide a carefully thought-out application. There is an official form available from the Dti website, however, many employers have their own versions
- To ensure their application is valid by checking that all the eligibility criteria are met and that they have provided all the necessary information
- To ensure the application is made well in advance of when they want it to take effect
- To arrive at meetings on time and to be prepared to discuss their application in an open and constructive manner. It is quite useful to present your case to a friend or former colleague first
- If necessary, be prepared to be flexible themselves in order to reach an agreement with the employer

Employers’ rights
- To reject an application when the desired working pattern cannot be accommodated within the needs of the business
- To seek the employee’s agreement to extend timescales where it is appropriate
- To consider an application withdrawn in certain circumstances

Employers’ responsibilities
- To consider requests properly in accordance with the set procedure
- To ensure they adhere to the time limits contained within the procedure
- To provide the employee with appropriate support and information during the course of the application
- To decline a request only where there is a recognised business ground and to explain to the employee in writing why it applies
- To ensure that any variation of the procedure is agreed in advance with the employee and recorded in writing
- To ensure that they do not subject an employee to detriment or dismissal for making an application under the right

Summary of Procedure
1. Employer receives an application for flexible working
2. Within 28 days, employer and employee meet to discuss the application
3. Within 14 days, the employer writes notifying the employee of the decision

Request is Accepted
Both employee and employer need to consider what arrangements they need to make for when the working pattern is changed. All changes to be put in writing within the employee's contract. Any temporary changes must be specifically negotiated.

Request is Rejected
A request can only be rejected for a number of “permitted” reasons which must be given in writing and particular to your case. These are listed on  [http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/workandfamilies/flexible-working/index.html]

An employee must decide whether to appeal the decision. Any appeal must be made in writing, setting out the grounds for appeal. The employee must submit the written appeal within 14 days and the employer must meet with the employee within the subsequent 14 days. Following this the employer must respond in writing within the final 14 days. If the decision is unchanged, the employee can take their case, in specific circumstances to an employment tribunal or binding arbitration. It may be that the decision could be considered direct or indirect sex discrimination, based on the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act. If your contract or company policy allow you to work flexibly, then your employer could be in breach of contract. At this stage an employee is usually advised to seek qualified legal advice before proceeding.

Leave and Breaks from Work
Excluding maternity and paternity leave, there are two other types of leave available to you as working parents, parental leave and time off for dependants.

Breaks from Work
In all cases of taking a break or leave from work, you must check your contract and company policy, any eligibility criteria, the terms of the break, the arrangements for keeping in touch and returning to work. You may know of other companies which operate popular schemes you could “sell” to your employer. Any suggestions or decisions should be structured and put in writing.

Career Breaks
A career break is a period of unpaid leave from work, usually lasting between one and five years. It is an agreement between you and your employer that you will return to your old or a similar job in the future. You are not treated as an employee during this period and pay and benefits usually stop. You must ensure that your employment rights are not affected as a result of this.
Career breaks were pioneered by the high street banks and other institutions in the 1980's and 1990's. The idea caught on in big companies as a way of retaining skilled staff.  Career breaks have usually been taken up by working women for caring reasons and to extend maternity leave.

Sabbaticals
Although sabbaticals have traditionally been used in academia, the trend has caught on in some companies. A sabbatical, usually unpaid, is generally awarded on the basis of length of service and is used to allow employees more time to pursue other interests, usually employment related. Some employers are using a sabbatical to reward long service and retain staff, allowing some this time off for childcare. For example, the Guardian newspaper allows staff 4 weeks paid leave in addition to annual leave after 4 years of service, for intellectual refreshment.

Leave Schemes
Some employers allow employees to trade their holiday entitlement, for example buying extra days of annual leave in exchange for a lower salary or rolling over their remaining annual leave for future years. Some employers allow “special leave” for caring or studying.

Financial Assistance
As a working parent, you are entitled to apply for financial assistance.

Child Benefit
This is the initial benefit to claim when you have or adopt your first baby.
It should be claimed within 3 months of your baby's birth or adoption as it cannot be backdated any further. It is for people who are responsible for children, regardless of income or ni contributions. It is paid until your child leaves full time education or training. The benefit is administered by the Child Benefit office within the remit of the Inland Revenue (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs).
Claim forms can be completed online at:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/index.htm 

Child Tax and Working Tax Credits
These are the second thing you claim. Tax credits are administered by the Tax Credit Office within the remit of the Inland Revenue. Child Tax Credit is for people who are responsible for children. Working Tax Credit is for people who work. Both payments depend on your income and you claim them together. Often, payment of Working Tax Credit is triggered by having children for the first time, as once you have a child, the ceiling for weekly hours worked drops from 30 to 16 and you are entitled to the childcare element. Tax Credits, however,  are based on annual income from all sources over the tax year and your award is calculated based on the previous tax year.

There is a “baby element” to Tax Credits and you will find your calculations change after your child has reached their first birthday. You are entitled to Tax Credits until your child leaves full time education or training unless they themselves become entitled by having their own children.

You don't have to wait until you go back to work to claim Working Tax Credits. You are treated as working whilst you are on Ordinary Maternity Leave, Adoption Leave, Paternity Leave or any period when you get Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance, Adoption Allowance or Paternity Pay.

Maternity Grants
Some new working mothers are entitled to a Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500 to help with the cost of a new child. Payment of the grant is subject to a qualifying benefit such as Child Tax Credit, but it can be confusing to work out your eligibility.  The grant is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions via your local Job Centre Plus. If you want to check your eligibility, you should contact them or your local Citizen's Advice Bureau.

Child Trust Fund
The Child Trust Fund (CTF) is a scheme whereby everyone entitled to child benefit for a child born on or after September 1 2002 is entitled to a voucher for a savings or investment account for each child. The scheme is administered by HMRC. Working parents on low incomes may be entitled to an additional payment. All parents receive a further payment when their child is 7. You may not touch the money yourself. Your child has access to the money when they turn 18.
You automatically receive the vouchers, however you must choose the account and invest it and the HMRC provides information to help you with the decision. If you haven't opened an account after a year, then the HMRC will open one for you. More information is available on:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ctf/

Other Benefits
There are further benefits available to you if you have children with disabilities. You may also be entitled to help with Housing Benefit and Council Tax. You should contact your local Citizen's Advice Bureau for more information on your specific entitlements.

While we try to ensure that all information is correct and up to date, please always check with the appropriate authority.

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