Say a public sector worker is employed on a 37 hour week contract. They wish to take one day a week parental leave. The 37 hours is somewhat notional in that there is no time for a lunch break and one mandatory 7 30 start a week owing to workload. Department is understaffed and likely to remain so in the medium term. The employee is lucky to get a 10 minute lunch break and often works after 5 pm in a stressful job. In effect they work more than 40 hours a week and come in on weekends. Is it possible to take 3 hours of parental leave and take a day off ? Working the remaining 34 hours over 4 days including the mandatory early start and a couple of 6 pm finishes ? In effect they still will work more than 34 hours? The other employees in the dept are paid 39 hour contracts and the individual shares an equal share of work.