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Parental leave: Parental leave to be taken in one-week blocks

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    South Central Trains Ltd v Rodway [2004] IRLR 777 EAT (0 other reports)

Key points

In South Central Trains Ltd v Rodway the EAT holds:

  • A disagreement over entitlement to parental leave does not amount to a "reason related to parental leave" for the purpose of a complaint of being subjected to a detriment under s.47C of Employment Rights Act 1996 (leave for family and domestic reasons).
  • The phrase "in a period" of one week's leave contained in para. 7, Schedule 2 of the Regulations, means "for a period" of a week, not "during a period" of a week. The minimum period of parental leave is one week and the Regulations cannot be read as allowing a period of less than a week to be treated as using up one of the 13 weeks of entitlement.
  • The employee could not lawfully take just one day off as parental leave. Therefore, the disciplinary action taken against him for absence could not constitute a detriment within the meaning of s.47C or reg. 19 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999.