Employees are protected from suffering a detriment or dismissal for taking, or seeking to take, parental bereavement leave.

Detrimental treatment

Your employer must not subject you to any detriment by doing something (or deliberately not doing something), because they took or sought to take parental bereavement leave.

Examples of detrimental treatment include denial of promotion, facilities or training opportunities that your employer would have normally made available to you.

If you believe you have suffered detrimental treatment under these circumstances, then you should raise a grievance with your employer.

Dismissal and parental bereavement leave

You should not be dismissed or be selected for redundancy because you took, or sought to take, parental bereavement leave. Your employer cannot prevent you from returning to work after your parental bereavement leave ends.

If you are dismissed by your employer in these circumstances, then you can make a complaint of unfair dismissal to a tribunal, regardless of your length of service.

Redundancy during parental bereavement leave

If there is a redundancy situation at the same time as you are on parental bereavement leave, you must be treated the same as any other employee under the circumstances. This includes being consulted about the redundancy or considered for any other suitable job vacancies.