Most businesses have heard of the statutory right to shared parental leave but it’s not the most straightforward of family leave rights. Receiving notification that an employee is entitled to, and wishes to take, shared parental leave can often raise questions for managers.
We take a look at five fast facts to banish some uncertainty around shared parental leave.
- What is shared parental leave?
- Who can take shared parental leave?
- Are there any notification requirements?
- How is shared parental leave taken?
- Is there any statutory right to pay during shared parental leave?
What is shared parental leave?
Shared parental leave is an optional form of leave available to eligible parents following the birth or adoption of a child. Broadly, shared parental leave involves the mother/adopter ending their maternity/adoption leave early, with the remainder being converted into shared parental leave.
Shared parental leave offers a more flexible way for parents to take leave in the first year after the birth of a child or the placement of a child with them for adoption.
Where both parents qualify for shared parental leave, subject to certain restrictions, it’s up to them to decide between them how they wish to use it – for example, each taking some (at the same time or separately), or one parent taking all of it. Where only one parent qualifies for shared parental leave, only that parent will be able to take it.
Who can take shared parental leave?
Shared parental leave is available to a mother/adopter and their partner or the child’s father in birth cases, providing the required eligibility criteria are met. These include:
- The mother/adopter ends their maternity/adoption leave early by either returning to work or by serving a leave curtailment notice not less than eight weeks before they want their maternity/adoption leave to end
- Having been continuously employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth/matching date, and remaining in continuous employment with that employer until the week before any period of shared parental leave they wish to take
- Sharing the main responsibility for the care of the child with the other parent
- The other parent meets a minimum earnings requirement
- Giving the required notices to the employer
If you receive a shared parental leave request from an employee in your business, please get in touch for advice, including on eligibility.
Are there any notification requirements?
Shared parental leave is one of the more ‘paperwork-heavy’ leave rights. If your employee wishes to take shared parental leave, you will usually be entitled to receive a ‘notice of entitlement and intention to take shared parental leave’ and a ‘period of leave notice’ to book the time off the employee wishes to take (sometimes these are combined, but the employee is limited to three period of leave notices). You should be given at least eight weeks’ notice of the start of the period of shared parental leave the employee wishes to take. Additionally, if you employ the mother / primary adopter, you should also receive a ‘leave curtailment notice’, unless they have already returned to work before the end of their maternity/adoption leave.
We have forms available on request, such as a notice of entitlement and intention to take shared parental leave, to assist you and your employees should you wish to make them available in your business. If so, please contact us.
How is shared parental leave taken?
It can be helpful to know, amongst other things, that:
- The mother must take at least two weeks of maternity leave directly following the birth of the child (four weeks for manual work in a factory environment). In adoption cases, the adopter must take at least two weeks of adoption leave
- Shared parental leave must be completed within 52 weeks of the birth/placement, and it must be taken in multiples of complete weeks
- Shared parental leave can be taken as a continuous period of leave, which can’t be refused. Alternatively (and less commonly), it can be taken as a discontinuous period of leave – that is, leave taken over a period of time, with breaks between the leave where the employee returns to work. If you receive a request for discontinuous leave, please get in touch to discuss your situation, as whilst it can be possible to refuse a request for discontinuous leave, in some circumstances this may not benefit your business (or your employee) as ‘default’ provisions can kick in dictating when and how the leave gets taken, which can be unhelpful. It’s important you have the information you need to make decisions for your business, so please get in touch as soon as possible if you need assistance.
Is there any statutory right to pay during shared parental leave?
How much statutory shared parental leave pay eligible parents get depends on how many of the 39 weeks of statutory maternity pay/adoption pay the mother/ adopter has taken. Untaken weeks are converted into statutory shared parental leave pay, which can be shared. The current statutory rate of shared parental leave pay is £187.18 per week (or 90% of normal weekly earnings if this is lower).
If you have an HR issue your business would like assistance with, please reach out for help.