Parental Leave - Take Full or Forfeit in Current Market?

RogerSyd on 24/08/2024 - 08:17
Last edited 24/08/2024 - 15:10 by 1 other user

Hi all, my office has generous parental leave policy of ~5 months.

My wife has just joined back in her office from maternal leave, so I can now apply for my parental leave as primary carer. The company situation (IT) is not great and we had number of redundancies recently.
Although my leave can't be denied, I am worried that 5 months would be a big gap and might force my employer to look for replacements. As per my family situation, 1-2 months leave can work but 5 months is tempting as I won't get that much leave again.

Any past experiences in this community around this? Did you go for all eligible leaves or forfeit some portion?

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  woodg on 24/08/2024 - 08:26

  Do you have to take it all at once? Could you take, say, two months now and keep the remaining three months for future use "if needed"?

  • 

    RogerSyd on 24/08/2024 - 10:29

    All at once

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  mskeggs on 24/08/2024 - 08:28

  +34

  The market is always not perfect. You won’t get another chance to spend 5 months with your child.

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  geek001 on 24/08/2024 - 08:35

  +2

  My boss used to let me take every Wednesday off as part of my parental leave entitlement. It was a win-win for the company and myself because my absence wasn't too disruptive for the company, and with small children, sometimes you just need some time off to catch up on sleep. :)

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  nige0090 on 24/08/2024 - 11:19

  +5

  When a colleague returned from his parental leave, he found that his role/responsibilities/reports/influence had changed.
  I'm sure it was all done completely legally, but within a year he resigned.
  On the other hand, a female friend had her third baby & maternity leave happily with the same company.
  Maybe it depends on the politics immediately surrounding you.

  If your company situation is not great, your position might not be that secure anyway, so maybe take the 5 months leave while you can?

  • 

    leiiv on 25/08/2024 - 00:10

    This is a sound advice, take it now while you can. And always better to spend time with your baby now than later. And you can always try to find new opportunities in that 5 months.

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  Daabido on 24/08/2024 - 12:50

  +1

  mskeggs's comment is the only one that matters.

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  minas01 on 26/08/2024 - 09:47

  I'm fortunate enough that my employer offers 6 months paid Paternity Leave. Will be taking it January 2024. Jump at the opportunity. you may never get it again.