Resources for parents and carers

IoN Pregnancy and Parental Leave Handbook

This handbook has been produced to provide information and procedures to help managers and individuals who are planning on taking leave to have or adopt a child.

The aims of this handbook are:

• to help those with managing responsibilities 
• To improve the experience of those taking leave before, during and following the leave period.

We would welcome feedback regarding this handbook and will endeavor to improve and develop the content for future versions. Contact person: IoN HR Manager, Laura Allum (l.allum@ucl.ac.uk). 

Prior to taking leave

Prior to commencing a period of extended leave as above, the employee should meet their line manager to discuss the forthcoming leave. Consideration needs to be given to any issues that may arise during the period of leave, so that contingency plans can be identified. This is a discussion; the employee is not expected to provide an answer to each question as these may be a decision for the line manager or point of discussion / negotiation for both parties.   

This checklist has been compiled to prompt areas of discussion and is not exhaustive, but meant to be a helpful guide.

• Checklist

When returning to work

When returning to work, the employee should meet their line manager to discuss adjusting back to work and any changes that need to be made. Consideration needs to be given to changes in the individuals circumstances, so that contingency plans can be identified. This is a discussion; the employee is not expected to provide an answer to each question as these may be a decision for the line manager or point of discussion / negotiation for both parties. 

This checklist has been compiled to prompt areas of discussion and is not exhaustive, but meant to be a helpful guide.

• Checklist

We compiled a list of potential hazards a pregnant worker can encounter in our lab spaces. This list was compiled with the support and collaboration of several members of staff accross IoN, but it may not be an exhaustive list! If you are aware of any other hazardous elements that should be included in this list please contact our IoN Lab Operations Manager  (Stephanie Czieso: s.czieso@ucl.ac.uk) or the IoN HR Manager (Laura Allum: l.allum@ucl.ac.uk).

• Risk Assessments
• Pregnancy in the lab

UCL Resources which may be helpful:

1. UCL Day Nursery- The UCL Day Nursery provides high quality childcare and nursery education, giving priority to the development needs and happiness of our children and their families in a safe, nurturing and stimulating care environment.

2. Parents and Carers Network, UCL - volunteer-led grassroots network that was established in May 2014 to raise awareness of the needs of working parents and carers. It aims to support UCL staff members who are balancing ongoing caring responsibilities with work. It is a peer support group led by network members for members so new ideas and activities are always welcomed and encouraged.

3. Breastfeeding and Returning to work information to supporting parents who wish to Breastfeed on their return to work and to identify suitable facilities to do so.

4. UCL Parental Leave Toolkit, designed to assist employees through the application and management of maternity leave, paternity/partner leave, adoption leave and shared parental leave at UCL.

Being able to work or study whilst dealing with parental and other caring responsibilities is essential for a healthy working culture, where everyone can achieve their full potential. To support this, the Faculty of Brain Sciences is launching a Carers Fund to enable all staff and PhD students with caring responsibilities to attend meetings, conferences, workshops and work events outside normal working patterns.

Staff, PhD students and Professional Doctorate students can apply for up to £500, and applications will be accepted throughout the year. Read more about it and apply here.

UCL provides employees with up to five days of paid leave, which can be used for either Time off for Dependents or Carer’s Leave. After exhausting this paid allowance, employees can still take one additional week of unpaid Carer’s Leave. Employees with at least one year of service may also request Extended Carer’s Leave for serious health-related circumstances, with up to five paid days (or 15 in exceptional cases) and additional unpaid leave of up to six months, subject to operational feasibility. Requests for Carer’s Leave or Extended Carer’s Leave must be submitted through MyHR. When you create an absence then you may select 'Paid Leave' as Absence Type and select 'Carer's Leave' or 'Extended Carer's Leave' in Absence Reason.