Shared Parental Leave Policy

Policy Statement

This policy sets out the Organisation’s stance on employee entitlement to take shared parental leave (SPL), an explanation of the available entitlements and the procedures employees should follow in order to take leave. SPL may be taken in the case of both births and adoptions. This policy uses the word “parent” to describe employees in both birth and adoption circumstances.

Any employee wishing to take SPL should inform their line manager at the earliest possible opportunity so that their entitlement can be explained to them. Due to the flexibility of the SPL system, it is essential that employees understand the procedural requirements involved in taking such leave.

The essential features of SPL are:

eligible employees will be able to bring maternity/adoption leave to an early end and share the remaining leave entitlement
eligible employees will have a certain amount of flexibility to decide which parent takes leave and when, including being on leave at the same time
the maximum amount of leave to be shared is 50 weeks
leave may be taken in minimum blocks of one week
eligible employees may make up to three requests for leave, including any changes to previously booked leave
a request for a continuous period of leave becomes fixed
a request for discontinuous leave is subject to agreement with the Organisation.

In addition to shared parental leave, eligible employees who are responsible for a baby born on or after 6 April 2025 who requires neonatal care are entitled to neonatal care leave. For details on your entitlement to time off, pay during leave and support available, you should read our separate Neonatal Care Leave Policy.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to take SPL, both the employee and their partner must meet certain eligibility criteria. You must:

be the mother, father, or main adopter of the child, or the partner of the mother or main adopter
have 26 weeks’ service at the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC) or at the week in which the main adopter was notified of having been matched for adoption with the child (known as the “relevant week”)
have a partner who meets the employment and earnings test (see below)
share the primary responsibility for the child with the other parent at the time of the birth/adoption
have made the required notifications in respect of their entitlement and have provided the necessary declarations and evidence
be working for the Organisation until the week before any leave is taken.

Employment and earnings test

Your partner must have, in the 66 weeks before the EWC, worked for at least 26 weeks and earned on average at least £30 a week in any 13 weeks.

Amount and Timing of SPL

Parents cannot take more than 52 weeks of leave in total made up of maternity or adoption leave and SPL but excluding paternity leave which is a standalone entitlement.

If the mother is entitled to Statutory Maternity/Adoption Pay/maternity allowance but not maternity/adoption leave, the maximum number of weeks of SPL to be taken is the remainder of 52 weeks minus the number of weeks’ pay received.

Mothers are not able to share compulsory maternity leave entitlement of two weeks (or four weeks if the mother works in a factory environment). This is a statutory requirement enabling the employee to recover from the birth and is to be taken exclusively by the mother. Correspondingly, adopters may share a maximum of 50 weeks’ leave.

SPL can only be taken in minimum blocks of one week; it is not possible to take a day’s SPL. The minimum amount that can be taken is one week.

Entitlement to Shared Parental Pay

Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) can be paid to both parents for a maximum of 39 weeks in total. This includes any weeks in which Statutory Maternity/Adoption Pay was received, and the timing of pay will be decided between the parents.

To be eligible to receive ShPP, you must:

have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks up to and including the “qualifying week” (the 15th week prior to the expected week of childbirth or placement for adoption)
have average earnings not less than the lower earnings limit calculated over the eight weeks prior to the qualifying week
comply with the notification requirements.

All ShPP is paid at the lower of the standard rate or 90% of the employee’s normal weekly earnings.

[Optional] The Organisation operates an enhanced shared parental pay policy according to the following:

employees must have a minimum of [enter number months/years] service
the rate of pay is [enter details] and is offset against any ShPP being received by the employee and is payable only at the time when the employee is receiving ShPP
the maximum duration of payment is [enter details]
the amount of enhanced shared parental pay to be received will be reduced by any amount of enhanced maternity/adoption leave received by the employee in respect of the same child in relation to which ShPP is paid
an employee is required to repay the element of enhanced pay paid in excess of statutory entitlement in the event that the employee does not return to work for a period of [enter number] months after the end of the SPL period which ends one year after the birth/adoption.

Notification Requirements

Notice of entitlement and intention to take leave and pay

At least eight weeks before any leave is to be taken, employees must provide notice of their entitlement and intention to take shared parental leave. A relevant form is available from [enter name].

Curtailment notice

Maternity/adoption leave must be curtailed (ended early) if SPL is to be taken. The mother/main adopter must inform the Organisation that maternity/adoption leave will be brought to an end by providing a curtailment notice at the same time as the notice of entitlement is provided. The curtailment notice will give eight weeks’ notice of leave (or pay in the event that the employee is not entitled to leave) being brought to an early end.

A notice of curtailment can only be revoked in the following specific circumstances:

where it is discovered in the eight weeks following the notice that neither the mother/adopter nor their partner has any entitlement to SPL or pay
in the event of the death of the partner
if the notice was given before the birth, and the mother revokes her maternity leave curtailment notice in the six weeks following the birth.

Notice of curtailment must be provided to Jobcentre Plus if the mother is not entitled to maternity pay but instead received maternity allowance

Notice to take a specific period of SPL and ShPP

Although an indication of leave dates will have been given in previous notices, a period of leave is not fixed (unless stated to the contrary) until a period of leave notice is submitted. A maximum of three period of leave notices are permitted, which will include any notices to amend a period of leave already booked. A period of leave notice gives eight weeks’ notice to the Organisation that you intend to take leave on the specified dates. The date that leave will start should be given unless the period of leave notice is given before the birth of a child, in which case the start date may be expressed as, eg “two weeks” after the birth, to last for “four weeks”.

You should also indicate in this notice whether you intend to allocate ShPP to the period of leave.

[Optional — There may be circumstances where the Organisation permits more than three period of leave notices to be submitted, eg where the Organisation asks you to change a period of leave already booked].

It is important that all of the relevant information is provided according to the set timelines. If it is not, the Organisation cannot guarantee that the leave will be granted.

Confirmation of SPL and ShPP

If you request one continuous block of leave in a period of leave notice, you are entitled to take this period of leave and we will confirm the dates to you in writing.

However, if you request more than one period of leave, ie discontinuous blocks of leave in one period of leave notice, the Organisation will make a decision on whether this can be accommodated. [Enter name] will arrange a meeting with you at which the request will be discussed with you. The outcome of the request will be one of the following:

agreement to the request
proposal of alternative leave dates
refusal of the request.

If no agreement can be reached within two weeks of the period of leave notice being submitted, the default provisions will apply which means you are able to withdraw the request any time up to the 15th day after it was made.

If the request is not withdrawn, you can take the leave in one continuous block to start on the first date of leave specified in the notice. Alternatively, the leave can be taken in one block on a new date notified by you within 19 days of the original request.

Varying a Period of Leave

Once a period of leave notice has been submitted, you may change the dates on which leave is to be taken by submitting a request to vary a period of leave giving eight weeks’ notice. These notice provisions are waived in the event of an early birth and your leave will start the same length of time after the birth as it would have started had the baby not come early. In this case, notice should be given as soon as reasonably practicable. In all other cases, the following applies:

in this case notice to vary the start date should be given as soon as reasonably practicable after the birth of the child
in order to change the start date of leave, you must give eight weeks’ notice counted back from the earlier of either the original date or the new date
to change the duration of a period of leave, you must give eight weeks’ notice of the original start date.

You may also request that a continuous period of leave is separated into a discontinuous period, or that a discontinuous period is consolidated into a continuous period.

Submitting a variation notice will count towards your maximum three notices unless it is made as a result of the child being born earlier or later than the expected week of childbirth.

If you are submitting a variation notice subsequent to a request to do so by the Organisation, it will not count as one of the maximum three notices.

[Optional] Evidence Requirements

In order for us to verify the information you have provided, you may be required to produce:

a copy of the child’s birth certificate
the name and address of the other parent’s employer.

If the other parent is not employed, a declaration must be signed to this effect.

Within 14 days of our receipt of your notice of entitlement in relation to an adoption, you may be required to produce documents from the adoption agency which show the following:

the adoption agency’s name and address
the date you were notified of being matched with the child
the expected date of placement.

Where requested, the information above must be provided within 14 days. Where you are unable to provide a birth certificate because it has not yet been issued, you will be required to sign a declaration to that effect which also includes the date and location of the child’s birth.

“SPLIT” Days

During SPL, you may work for up to 20 SPL “in touch” days (SPLIT days) without statutory payments being affected. We recognise the benefit of SPLIT days and encourage you to use them, however, they are optional: you are not obliged to use them, and we are not obliged to permit them.

You will be paid at your normal rate for work on a SPLIT day. Any work done on one day will count as one SPLIT day.

Your entitlement to 20 SPLIT days is not affected by your entitlement to 10 KIT days during maternity or adoption leave.

Returning from SPL

Employees who wish to amend the date on which they are to return to work after SPL must give eight weeks’ notice of the original end date or the new end date, whichever is earlier.

After SPL, provided the total amount of leave taken by you (including maternity or adoption leave) does not exceed 26 weeks, you are entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions of employment as if you had not been absent.

When you are considering your return to work, for reasons related to childcare, you may request a change to your previous working arrangements. Any such request will be considered in line with the operational requirements of the Organisation and there is no automatic right to return to work on altered conditions.

Redundancy

Should the need to consult with you regarding redundancy arise during your SPL or within 18 months of the birth or adoption of your child (subject to eligibility), please refer to the separate redundancy policy for information on your rights during that process.