{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/employment-rights-act-1996/section-76",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/employment-rights-act-1996/section-76.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1996/18",
  "legislation_title": "Employment Rights Act 1996",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/employment-rights-act-1996",
  "path": "section/76",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "76",
  "heading": "Entitlement to parental leave.",
  "text": "(1) The Secretary of State shall make regulations entitling an employee who satisfies specified conditions—\n(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n(b) as to having, or expecting to have, responsibility for a child,\nto be absent from work on parental leave for the purpose of caring for a child.\n(2) The regulations shall include provision for determining—\n(a) the extent of an employee’s entitlement to parental leave in respect of a child;\n(b) when parental leave may be taken.\n(3) 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—\n(a) a person ceases to satisfy conditions under subsection (1);\n(b) an entitlement to parental leave is transferred.\n(4) Provision under subsection (2)(b) may, in particular, refer to—\n(a) a child’s age, or\n(b) a specified period of time starting from a specified event.\n(5) Regulations under subsection (1) may—\n(a) specify things which are, or are not, to be taken as done for the purpose of caring for a child;\n(b) require parental leave to be taken as a single period of absence in all cases or in specified cases;\n(c) require parental leave to be taken as a series of periods of absence in all cases or in specified cases;\n(d) require all or specified parts of a period of parental leave to be taken at or by specified times;\n(e) make provision about the postponement by an employer of a period of parental leave which an employee wishes to take;\n(f) specify a minimum or maximum period of absence which may be taken as part of a period of parental leave.\n(g) specify a maximum aggregate of periods of parental leave which may be taken during a specified period of time.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "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)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "S. 76(1)(a) omitted (18.2.2026 for specified purposes, 6.4.2026 in so far as not already in force) by virtue of Employment Rights Act 2025 (c. 36), ss. 15, 159(3); S.I. 2026/3, regs. 3(2), 4(2) (with Sch. 1)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/76",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-05T03:34:50.937818+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}