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Ordinary parental leave policy

Get our model parental leave policy with guidance on eligibility, employee rights, and managing leave requests.

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Read time:

1–2 minutes

Written by:

Stephen Simpson

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This model policy sets out employees’ entitlement to ordinary parental leave, including eligibility, how leave can be taken and how requests should be managed. It helps employers apply parental leave rights consistently and in line with statutory requirements.

Use this model policy to set out employees’ entitlement to ordinary parental leave.

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  • Policy wording
  • How to use this document
  • Supporting guidance for this document
    • Key resources
    • Notes
  • Future developments

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Stephen Simpson

Written by:

Stephen Simpson

Latest updates

Updated to reflect the introduction of a day-one right to ordinary parental leave, effective from 6 April 2026.

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About the author

Stephen Simpson
Stephen Simpson
Principle Editor – Employment Law and Compliance

Stephen is a principal editor who has worked on the Brightmine employment law and leading practice resources for over 20 years. After growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, he trained as a solicitor in England in the 1990s but soon moved into legal publishing. He was among the first recruits to Brightmine in the year before it was launched as XpertHR in 2002.

Stephen has worked on a wide range of employment law and leading practice resources, including overseeing the creation and expansion of the HR templates resource types (Policies and procedures, Letters and forms, and Contract clauses). He has written up over 1,000 reports on employment law cases and created practical guidance on a range of HR issues for the Commentary & insights tool. He also had a stint working on Personnel Today.

Areas of expertise:

Employment law, Family leave, Discrimination, Redundancy, Unfair dismissal, HR policies, Employment case law

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