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UK Law Reference
All sections of Employment Rights Act 1996
1996 c. 18, s.76

Section 76 — Entitlement to parental leave.

This version in force from 2026-04-06

Snapshot: 2026-08-24

Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .

(1) [F1 The Secretary of State shall make regulations entitling an employee who satisfies specified conditions—]

(b) [F1 as to having, or expecting to have, responsibility for a child,]

[F1 to be absent from work on parental leave for the purpose of caring for a child.]

(2) [F1 The regulations shall include provision for determining—]

(a) [F1 the extent of an employee’s entitlement to parental leave in respect of a child;]

(b) [F1 when parental leave may be taken.]

(3) [F1 Provision under subsection (2)(a) shall secure that where an employee is entitled to parental leave in respect of a child he is entitled to a period or total period of leave of at least three months; but this subsection is without prejudice to any provision which may be made by the regulations for cases in which—]

(a) [F1 a person ceases to satisfy conditions under subsection (1);]

(b) [F1 an entitlement to parental leave is transferred.]

(4) [F1 Provision under subsection (2)(b) may, in particular, refer to—]

(a) [F1 a child’s age, or]

(b) [F1 a specified period of time starting from a specified event.]

(5) [F1 Regulations under subsection (1) may—]

(a) [F1 specify things which are, or are not, to be taken as done for the purpose of caring for a child;]

(b) [F1 require parental leave to be taken as a single period of absence in all cases or in specified cases;]

(c) [F1 require parental leave to be taken as a series of periods of absence in all cases or in specified cases;]

(d) [F1 require all or specified parts of a period of parental leave to be taken at or by specified times;]

(e) [F1 make provision about the postponement by an employer of a period of parental leave which an employee wishes to take;]

(f) [F1 specify a minimum or maximum period of absence which may be taken as part of a period of parental leave.]

(g) [F1 specify a maximum aggregate of periods of parental leave which may be taken during a specified period of time.]

Amendment notes

  1. F1 Pt. 8 (ss. 71-80) substituted for Pt. 8 (ss. 71-85) (15.12.1999) by 1999 c. 26, s. 7, Sch. 4 Pt. 1; S.I. 1999/2830, art. 2(1)(2), Sch. 1 Pt. 2 (with transitional provisions in Sch. 3 para. 10)