A new system of parental leave will apply to employees who are expecting a baby or adopting a child on or after the 5 April 2015. Shared Parental Leave (SPL) will mean that parents whose children are born or adopted after 5 April 2015 can share up to 50 weeks of parental leave.
The new system will run alongside the existing system of maternity, paternity and adoption leave. Mothers (and primary adopters) can still take up to 52 weeks maternity or adoption leave, and receive 39 weeks of statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance. Fathers will still have the right to take two weeks’ Ordinary Paternity Leave after the child’s birth or adoption date, although SPL will replace Additional Paternity Leave.
The purpose of SPL is to give parents maximum flexibility about how and when they can take leave after the birth or adoption of a child. 285,000 working couples are expected to qualify for SPL every year, with parents able to give their employers just eight weeks’ notice of the pattern of leave they want to take.
How SPL works
- SPL is designed to be flexible. A couple can take SPL at the same time or take it in turns.
- SPL can be taken at any time in the first year the child is born or adopted.
- Only the first two weeks that mothers have to take off after giving birth are reserved. After that, working couples can share up to 50 weeks of untaken maternity leave and 37 weeks of pay.
- SPL is taken in weekly blocks and can booked as one continuous period of leave, or as “discontinuous” leave in up to 3 separate blocks.
- If employees ask for SPL in discontinuous blocks, the employer can require them to take leave in a continuous block instead. In this case the employee will be able to choose the date that the continuous block starts.
- Each parent is entitled to a maximum of 20 SPL ‘keeping in touch’ days where they can go into work during a period of leave.
The Government has created an online calculator (at https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/shared-parental-leave)
to help prospective parents calculate their eligibility for SPL and their pay entitlements.
SPL and employers
SPL offers a number of benefits to employers. These include:
- Increased staff loyalty
- Giving women the option to return to work earlier
- Greater flexibility in reaching agreements with staff on how to balance work and home needs.
Preparing for SPL
SPL is compulsory if your employees are eligible for it, so you can’t opt out. Here are some steps to take now if you haven’t already prepared:
- Make sure all line managers in your organisation know about SPL and the rights and protections of eligible employees, and who they can speak to if they have any queries about SPL.
- Give line managers and your HR department a copy of the Acas’ free guide to SPL http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/1/c/Shared-Parental-Leave-a-good-practice-guide-for-employers-and-employees.pdf. You can also give copies to eligible employees.
- Update your existing family-friendly policies on maternity and paternity leave to make reference to SPL.
- Consider introducing a separate policy on SPL.
- Consider whether to offer enhanced shared parental pay in line with your maternity package.
Any questions?
If an employee asks you about SPL, you should consider seeking expert legal advice to guide you through the complex notice provisions. Integra Legal are here to help, so please contact us if you have any questions about SPL or any other area of employment law.
Contact Integra Legal
Please get in touch by phone on 0115 987 6790 or 0203 478 1260, or email us at contact@integralegal.co.uk.