Shared parental leave

Summary of entitlement

Shared parental leave is designed to give parents more flexibility in how to share the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption. Parents will be able to share a pot of leave, 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.

Shared Parental Leave is another option for mothers, fathers, partners and adopters, in addition to Maternity Leave (Section B) Adoption Leave (Section C) and Paternity Leave (Section E). These are still available and can be taken by employees who meet the qualifying criteria. To create SPL, the mother decides to end her maternity or adoption leave early, so that she and her partner can take the remaining leave as SPL. The maximum amount of SPL available is 50 weeks, as the mother must take a minimum of 2 weeks’ maternity or adoption leave immediately after the birth or arrival of the child

If you ot for Shared Parental Leave, the University will pay, at its discretion, the same entitlements as maternity leave, which is as follows:

• 16 weeks at full pay
• 21 weeks of statutory pay
• 13 weeks unpaid

This will be calculated based on the number of weeks already taken at the start of each new block of shared parental leave. A worked example is provided below.

The accrual of annual leave, including statutory (bank holidays) and concessionary days, will also, at the University’s discretion, be as maternity leave.

The flexibility of Shared Parental Leave includes:

• Parents can take SPL at the same time or at different times.
• It can be taken in up to 3 separate blocks, as long as you give at least 8 weeks’ notice of your intentions.

Eligibility

To qualify for Shared Parental Leave, you must share the care of the child with either:

• Your husband, wife, civil partner or adopter
• The child’s other parent
• Your partner (if they live with you and your child)

In addition, to qualify for Shared Parental Pay:

• You must have been employed continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15^th week before the due date or (or matching date for adoption)
• Remain employed by the University while taking SPL
• Your partner must have been working for at least 26 weeks of the 66 weeks before the baby is due or matched
• Your partner must have earned at least £390 a week on average in 13 of the 66 weeks
• Only employees are entitled to SPL
• You can only share the leave with one other qualifying person

Example

A mother works for a different organisation and takes 10 weeks maternity leave.

She ends her maternity leave and her partner, who works for the University then wishes to take the remaining 42 weeks leave.

S/he will be paid as follows:

1. 6 weeks at full pay
2. 21 weeks at the statutory rate
3. 13 weeks unpaid

Giving notice of your intentions

Remember:

• You must take a minimum of 2 weeks’ maternity or adoption leave by law, so the maximum amount of SPL available for both eligible partners is 50 weeks.
• To request SPL, you must give at least 8 weeks’ notice of your intention to end your maternity or adoption leave.
• The maximum amount of ShPP available is 37 weeks.
• Both parents must be eligible to qualify for SPL.

Having an early and informal discussion with your manager and / or HR can help you decide what you would like to do and what your department can support. Taking Shared Parental Leave will work best when there are no surprises. While continuous SPL will always be acceptable when correctly notified, a request to take separate blocks of SPL may be problematic for your manager and your request may be refused or modified.

To assist Payroll administering SPL, please provide the name and address of your partner’s employer to Payroll with ‘Shared Parental Leave’ in the email header.

Shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days

SPLIT days are available to both parents, up to a maximum of 20, during SPL. These can be useful for staying in touch and attending important events or training, however there is no obligation for the employee to attend or for the Department to offer them.  SPLIT days are in addition to the 10 ‘Keeping in Touch’ (KIT) days, available to those on maternity or adoption leave.

A Shared Parental Leave in Touch (SPLIT) days form is available to record and receive payment for your SPLIT days.

Any work done on any day during the Shared Parental leave period will count as a whole SPLIT day up to the ten day maximum. In other words, if an employee comes in for a one-hour training session and does no other work that day they will have used one of their SPLIT days for the purposes of the ten day maximum, although payment will only be made for actual hours worked.