Any employee who has completed one year's continuous employment and who "has, or expects to have responsibility, for a child" has a legally enforceable right to take up to 4 weeks unpaid parental leave per year while the child is under age 5 (or 18 if disabled), subject to an overall maximum of 13 weeks leave in respect of each child. With a few exceptions parental leave cannot be taken in blocks of less than one week.

The employee must give 21 days notice. The employer can require the employee to postpone parental leave for up to 6 months for business reasons unless it is to be taken immediately after the time the child is born or placed with the family for adoption.

There is a right for an employee to apply to an employment tribunal if the employer attempts to prevent him or her from taking parental leave (including specifically by victimisation or dismissal).

The leave is "parental leave" and is not the same as paternity leave . Both men and women are entitled to it. It is an individual right and cannot be swapped between parents. Parental leave is in addition to maternity leave - thus a mother can take statutory maternity leave and follow it immediately with a period of parental leave.

There is concern in some quarters that many parents are unable to take parental leave because it is unpaid and because it cannot be taken in blocks of less than a week or by working reduced hours. Of course any of these options can be agreed between employee and employer in any particular case as the purpose of the regulations is to provide a minimum-standard "fall back" scheme and employers and employees can agree better terms (ie better for the employee) if they wish. It is only to the extent that they do not do so that the rules of the statutory scheme apply.

New EU rules introduced in March 2010 require an increase in parental leave entitlement to four months by 8th March 2012, with a possible extension to March 2013. They also require the basic age limit to be increased to 8 and provide for other rights for those on parental leave.

The government provides a semi-official Directgov website on "Parental Leave".