Shared Parental Leave

Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)

Starting SPL and Notice Requirements

Cancelling a decision to end maternity or paternity leave

Shared Parental Leave in touch (SPLIT) days

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) are new entitlements for eligible parents of children due to be born or adopted on or after 5 April 2015.

It is designed to give parents more flexibility in how to share the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption. It must be taken between the baby’s birth and the first birthday.

Eligibility

Parents will be eligible to share up to a maximum of 52 weeks (including two compulsory weeks for the mother) and can decide to be off work at the same time and / or take it in turns to have periods of leave to look after the child.

An employee is eligible to SPL if they share responsibility for the child with one of the following:

Their husband, wife, civil partner or joint adopter
The child’s other parent
Their partner (if they live with them)

The employee or their partner must be eligible for maternity pay or leave, adoption pay or leave or Maternity Allowance (MA). They must also:

Have worked for the Union continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the due date or the date they are matched with their adopted child;
Still be employed by the Union while they take SPL;
Provide the Union with the correct notice, including a declaration that their partner meets the employment and income requirements which allow the employment to get SPL.

Sometimes only one parent in a couple will be eligible to get SPL or Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP). If this is the case, they cannot share the leave.

The Union can refuse SPL if the employee does not qualify, without having to give a reason.

Employees can take SPL in up to 3 separate blocks. They can also share the leave with their partner if they’re also eligible. Parents can choose how much of the SPL each of them will take.

Example: A mother and her partner are both eligible for SPL and ShPP. The mother ends her maternity leave and pay after 12 weeks, leaving 40 weeks available for SPL and 27 weeks available for ShPP. The parents can choose how to split this.

Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)

An employee can get ShPP if one of the following applies:

they’re eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay(SMP) or Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) ?
they’re eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay(SPP) and their partner is eligible for SMP, Maternity Allowance(MA) or SAP

ShPP is paid at a statutory rate a week or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is less.

Evidence provided by the employee to prove eligibility for ShPP must be kept by the Union, as well as records of:

the date ShPP started
the ShPP reclaimed
any weeks not paid and why for HMRC purposes. Records must be kept for at least 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to.

Entitlement

An employee can start SPL if they’re eligible and they or their partner end their maternity or adoption leave or pay early. The remaining leave will be available as SPL. The remaining pay may be available as ShPP. So, they can:

take the rest of the 52 weeks of leave (up to a maximum of 50 weeks) as Shared Parental Leave (SPL)
take the rest of the 39 weeks of pay (up to a maximum of 37 weeks) as Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) A new mother must take a minimum of 14 days maternity leave after the birth. An adoptive parent getting SAP must take at least 2 weeks’ adoption leave following the placement.

Starting SPL and Notice Requirements

For Shared Parental Leave (SPL) to start, the mother or adopter must do one of the following:

end their maternity or adoption leave by returning to work ?
give the Union ‘binding notice’ (a decision that can’t normally be changed) of the date when they will end their maternity or adoption leave ?
end maternity pay or Maternity Allowance (if they’re not entitled to maternity leave e.g. agency workers)

The mother must give the Union notice (at least 8 weeks) to end her maternity pay (or tell Jobcentre Plus to end her Maternity Allowance). If the child is born more than 8 weeks early, this notice period can be shorter.

Adopters must give the Union notice to end adoption pay.

The employee must give the Union written notice that they want to start SPL or ShPP. This will be done using the forms created by ACAS, which are available from HR in the Union.

After receipt of the notification, within 14 days the Union can ask for:

a copy of the child’s birth certificate
the name and address of the partner’s employer

The Union can require this information within a further 14 days.

SPL can start for the partner while the mother or adopter is still on maternity or adoption leave if she has given binding notice to end her leave (or pay if she’s not entitled to leave). This is different to Additional Paternity Pay and Leave.

Example: A mother and her partner are both eligible for SPL.

The mother goes on maternity leave 10 weeks before her baby is born. She decides to take 16 weeks of maternity leave and gives the Union notice.

Since the mother has given binding notice, her partner can start SPL as soon as the baby has been born (as long as they have given at least 8 weeks’ notice).

Blocks of leave

An employee taking SPL has a statutory right to a maximum of 3 separate blocks of leave instead of taking it all in one go, even if they are not sharing the leave with their partner.

If both parents are taking SPL, they can take their leave at the same time or at different times. An employee must give at least 8 weeks’ notice before a block of leave begins.

With the agreement of the Union, an employee can split a block of leave into shorter periods, which cannot be less than a week e.g. work every other week during a 12-week block, thereby taking 6 weeks. Allowing this is at the discretion of the Union.

Cancelling a decision to end maternity or paternity leave

The mother or adopter may be able to change their decision to end maternity or adoption leave early if both:

the planned end date hasn’t passed
they haven’t already returned to work

One of the following must also apply:

it IS discovered during the 8-week notice period that neither partner is eligible for either SPL or ShPP
the employee’s partner has died
it is less than 6 weeks after the birth (and the mother gave notice before the birth)

Shared Parental Leave in touch (SPLIT) days

An employee can work up to 20 days during SPL without bringing it to an end. These are called ‘shared parental leave in touch’ (or SPLIT) days.

These days are in addition to the 10 ‘keeping in touch’ (or KIT) days already available to those on maternity or adoption leave.

Keeping in touch days are optional and must be agreed between the Union and the employee.