Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is being billed as one of the most complex pieces of employment legislation ever introduced. Shared Parental Leave is for children due to be born or adopted on or after 5 April 2015.
SPL replaces additional statutory paternity leave and runs alongside
- ordinary paternity leave
- maternity leave
- adoption leave
- ‘normal’ unpaid parental leave
The amount of Shared Parental Leave to which an employee is entitled depends on when the mother ends the maternity leave. She can choose to return to work quickly and hand over her unused allowance to the other parent, provided that they also are eligible for Shared Parental Leave.
Qualifying parents can share up to 50 weeks’ leave from the child’s birth to its first birthday.
Parents can alternate leave, or be off work together and can take up to three blocks of leave or use it all up in one go.
Eligibility for Shared Parental Leave
- A mother or father of a child with an expected week of childbirth (or placement for adoption) on or after 5 April 2015;
- their husband, wife, civil partner or joint adopter;
- the child’s other parent; and
- their partner (if they live with the parent and the child).
One of the parents must also be eligible for Maternity Pay, or leave or Maternity Allowance or adoption pay or leave.
The employee must:
- have worked for the employer continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the due date (or date on which they are matched with their adopted child);
- still be employed by the employer while they take SPL; and
- give the employer the correct notice (at least eight weeks before the period of leave is due to start), including a declaration that their partner meets the employment and income requirements which allow the employee to get SPL.
To start Shared Parental Leave the mother or adopter must do one of three things
- end their maternity or adoption leave by returning to work;
- give the employer binding notice (by means of a maternity leave curtailment notice) of the date on which they will end their maternity or adoption leave;
- end maternity pay or Maternity Allowance (the mother must give at least 8 weeks’ notice).
NB a mother cannot return to work before the end of the compulsory two weeks’ of maternity leave (four if she works in a factory) following the birth of the child.
Shared Parental Leave can start for the partner while the mother or adopter is still on maternity or adoption leave provided that binding notice to end maternity leave has been given.
The employee must comply with the requirement to provide written notice of their entitlement to SPL and Shared Parental Pay including:
- their partner’s name;
- start and end dates for maternity leave;
- the total amount of SPL and ShPP available and how much they and their partner intend to take; and
- the fact that they are sharing childcare responsibility with their partner.
It must also include a signed declaration from the partner stating:
- their name, address and National Insurance number;
- that they satisfy the qualifying requirements for your employee to take Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay (ShPP); and
- that they agree to the employee taking Shared Parental Leave and ShPP.
After receiving this notice, the employer can ask for:
- a copy of the child’s birth certificate; and
- the name and address of their partner’s employer.
An employer has 14 days to ask for this information; the employee has a further 14 days to provide it.
An employee must give at least 8 weeks’ notice of any leave they wish to take (if the child is born more than 8 weeks early the period can be shorter)
Shared Parental Leave in Touch (SPLIT) Days
Employees can work for up to 20 days during Shared Parental Leave without bringing it to an end. These are called ‘shared parental leave in touch’ (or SPLIT) days. Any work undertaken and the amount paid is a matter for agreement between the employee and the employer.
These days are in addition to the 10 ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days already available to those on maternity or adoption leave.
During Shared Parental Leave, all terms and conditions of the employee’s contract except normal pay will continue.
Employers must keep the following records for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC):
- the evidence provided by the employee to demonstrate their eligibility for ShPP;
- the date ShPP began, the ShPP payments made and reclaimed; and
- any weeks of ShPP the employer did not pay and the reasons for that.
Records must be kept for at least three years.
