Under the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (“NI-MAPLE”), employees who wish to take parental leave must provide notice of their intention to do so, including the dates on which the leave will begin and end.  Employees are also required to give at least 21 days’ notice before the leave starts. 

The legislation further provides that parental leave must generally be taken in blocks of at least one week (unless the child is disabled).

While the NI-MAPLE legislation sets out circumstances in which an employer may postpone a period of parental leave, there is no corresponding provisions allowing an employee to postpone or amend leave once notice has been given. 

In light of the statutory notice requirements for taking parental leave, the requirement that leave be taken in week-long blocks and the fact that the legislation only expressly permits employers, and not employees, to postpone leave, it appears that an employee does not have a statutory right to convert a period of parental leave into sick leave if they become unwell during that period.

Accordingly, unless the employer agrees otherwise, or there is a contractual provision permitting the leave to be varied, an employee who falls ill during parental leave is unlikely to be entitled to end the parental leave early and be treated as on sick leave instead.

This article was provided by Madison Bowyer, an Associate in the Employment Law Group at Arthur Cox NI. 

T:+44 28 9026 5886 
E: Madison.bowyer@arthurcox.com 
https://www.arthurcox.com/