Birth window
The Birth window plugin restricts a time-off type to a window after a confirmed birth, and can cap how much of it may be taken inside that window. It is used for the weeks each parent takes at or shortly after a birth.
When to use
Use it for leave that has to be taken close to a birth:
- The weeks each parent may take at or shortly after the birth
- The birthing parent’s compulsory leave immediately afterwards
Parameters
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks after birth | How long the window stays open after the confirmed birth date. | 10 |
| Maximum weeks in window | Cap on this type’s total use inside one window. Leave empty for no cap. | 2 |
| Which parent | Which parent’s registered role opens the window. | Any |
How it works
- Each of the employee’s children with a confirmed birth date opens a window
- The whole absence must fall inside one of those windows
- If a cap is set, time already booked on this type inside that window counts towards it
Only a confirmed birth opens the window
A due date never does. Leave that must be taken “within ten weeks of the birth” cannot be measured from a forecast that may be a month out — so the window opens when someone presses Confirm birth on the employee’s page, and not before.
The whole absence must fit
A request that starts inside the window but ends after it is refused. Leave taken half outside the window has not been taken within it. The refusal names the birth and the day its window closes, so whoever books — the parent or somebody on their behalf — sees which dates would qualify; the request form’s calendar marks the birth date too.
The cap is per window, not per child
Twins are one birth and therefore one window, with one allowance — a second baby is not a second entitlement. A later child opens a fresh window with a fresh allowance.
Editing an existing absence does not count it twice: moving a booked week within the window is not taking another one.
Weeks are counted as working days
A cap of 2 means ten working days. If your agreement counts calendar days instead, or follows the employee’s own work pattern, this is the assumption to check.
Examples
The earmarked weeks after a birth
- Add the Birth window plugin to the policy
- Set Weeks after birth to the window your agreement gives
- Set Maximum weeks in window to the weeks each parent may take
- Leave Which parent on Any
The birthing parent’s leave immediately after birth
- Add the Birth window plugin
- Set Which parent to Birthing parent
- Set the window and cap your legislation requires
Error messages
The plugin tells two situations apart, and the request form treats them differently:
- No confirmed birth on record. The employee is not who this type is for, so the type is not offered on their request form at all. Submitting it another way is refused with “This type is for a parent with a confirmed birth on record. Register the child’s birth on the employee’s page to use it.”
- A confirmed birth, but under the other parent’s role. The employee is a parent, so the type stays on the form with the role named: “This type is for the birthing parent. The child on this employee’s record has a different parent role.” A role recorded wrongly on the child is then visible to the employee and easy to correct on their page, instead of a type that silently never appears.
- A confirmed birth, but not these dates. The employee is a new parent, so the type stays on the form with the reason written on it: “This type must be taken within N weeks of a confirmed birth.” Once the cap is used up: “The N weeks available after this birth have already been used.”