Spectrum
Time off

Family leave

Balancing work and family can be challenging, but your health and wellbeing come first. Taking full advantage of your benefits, including available leave, supports both your personal life and professional success.

Learn more on Echonet

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Accessing the policies

Contact the Pensions & Benefits Team if you cannot find your HRBP or are not able to connect to Echonet.

Maternity support
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As well as enhanced maternity leave, we offer paid time off for ante-natal care and pregnancy related sickness. We want to make sure you, and your baby, are as healthy and happy as possible. So time off for ante-natal care may include any relaxation or parenting classes that your doctor, midwife or health visitor has advised you to attend. 

Read the Maternity Leave policy

 

Foster, adoption and surrogacy
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Welcoming a foster child into your family can require your time and attention. We want to ensure that you have the space to give time and attention to your foster child, so if you are legally fostering a child, you will be entitled to up to six days’ paid leave per year.

Read the Fostering Leave policy

Adopting a child / surrogacy

Read the Adoption and Surrogacy policy

Parental leave
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Parental leave supports your wellbeing by giving you time to spend with your child, making memories without balancing your worklife. We offer up to 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave for each child up to the age of 18, which can be taken at any time up until the child’s 18th birthday. A maximum of 4 weeks’ parental leave can be taken in a single year in respect of any individual child. 

Read the Parental Leave policy

Co-parenting leave

Read the Co-Parenting Leave policy

Shared parental leave

Read the Shared Parental Leave policy

Carers leave
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Caring for a loved one can be emotionally and physically demanding. Carer’s leave supports your wellbeing by giving you time to manage your caring responsibilities to maintain balance and reduce stress. You are entitled to up to 5 days paid carer’s leave per year if you have a dependent who requires long-term care.

Read the Carers Leave policy

Special leave
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If you lose a child, you have access to parental bereavement leave. This is up to two weeks’ paid leave (inclusive of any statutory parental bereavement pay) to be taken as consecutive weeks or in two blocks of one week in the first 56 weeks after the child’s death. However, we understand everyone copes in different ways, so if you are unable to return to work following a period of parental bereavement leave, further leave may be available as compassionate leave, annual leave, sickness absence or unpaid leave.

Read the Parental Leave policy

If you experience pregnancy loss after the end of the 24th week of pregnancy, you will be eligible for maternity leave and pay. If you experience a pregnancy loss before the end of the 24th week of pregnancy, we recognise you may still need time away from work. If you, or your partner, experience a pregnancy loss, you may take up to one week’s paid leave in addition to any sickness absence you may need to take. 

Read the Maternity and Pregnancy policy

Fertility
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If you are undergoing fertility treatment, you are entitled to take up to five days’ paid leave in a calendar year in order to receive or recover from fertility treatment or attend associated appointments. Plus, if you are the partner of someone undergoing fertility treatment, you are entitled to take one day’s paid leave in a calendar year in order to attend appointments or support your partner.

Read the Fertility policy

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