In the case South Central Trains -v- Rodway, the Employment Appeal Tribunal considered a claim that the employer had treated Mr. Rodway detrimentally by not allowing him to take a single day of Parental leave and subsequently disciplining him for taking the day off.

The Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 state: "An employee may not take parental leave in a period other than the period which constitutes a week's leave for him under regulation 14 or a multiple of that period, except in a case where the child in respect of whom leave is taken is entitled to a disability living allowance."

The original Employment Tribunal decided that that definition means that employees may take single days of leave and that, if they do so, any period of less than a week would be treated as exhausting one full week's entitlement to parental leave. The tribunal decided that, because Mr. Rodway had been disciplined for taking a day off that he was entitled to take as parental leave, the written warning constituted a detriment.

A majority of the Employment Appeal Tribunal took a different view, arguing that the words "in a period" in the Regulation quoted above means "of a period" and that, as a result, parental leave may only be taken in whole weeks - unless the child is disabled, which was not the case here. The employer was justified in taking disciplinary action as Mr. Rodway was absent from work for a day without authorisation.

Leave has been given for Mr. Rodway to appeal this decision to the Court of Appeal.

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...back to 6 August 2004


Sources:
www.employmentappeals.gov.uk/uploads/UKEAT009904962004/index.htm