Case update: Parental leave and protection from dismissal

Under the Regulations, an employee must give written notice that they intend to take parental leave. Employers can postpone a request by up to 6 months on business grounds, but they cannot simply refuse a valid request outright.

The Regulations also provide protection from dismissal, stating that a dismissal will be automatically unfair if the reason for it is that the employee has taken or sought to take parental leave. In the recent case of Wright v Hilton Foods, the Employment Appeal Tribunal considered whether an employee could argue that they ‘sought to take’ parental leave when they had not actually given written notice. The Claimant worked for the Respondent as a supply chain manager until he was made redundant. He alleged that the real reason for his dismissal was that he had sought to take parental leave. The Respondent applied for his claim to be struck out on the basis that he could not have ‘sought’ to take parental leave as he had not made a formal, written application to take it during his employment.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal, allowed the claim to proceed and held that an employee could demonstrate that they had ‘sought’ to take parental leave without actually needing to have made a formal application, depending on the surrounding circumstances. 

The EAT held that it could not be right that if an employee unambiguously informed his employer of a decision to take parental leave and, for example, asked how to do so, and was dismissed to prevent the exercise of that right, so the protection should still apply and the claim was allowed to proceed.  

Whether an employee has ‘sought’ to take parental leave will be a question of fact for the Employment Tribunal having considered the relevant evidence. 
This serves as an important reminder to make sure employees are aware of the procedures for requesting parental leave and that managers have appropriate training to manage them. If you need help with any of these issues in the workplace, please contact us: 01635 896336 or hello@fentonelliott.co.uk