Shared parental leave
The new system of shared parental leave is due to come into force in April 2015. Diana Bruce, CIPP’s Senior policy liaison officer, sets out the key elements
n December 2013, the Government published its response to the consultation on the administration of shared parental leave (ShPL) and shared parental pay (ShPP).
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Maternity and paternity l Maternity leave and pay are unchanged at 52 weeks’ maternity leave and 39 weeks’ maternity pay/allowance (in case of a single mother or one or both partners not eligible for ShPL). l Ordinary paternity leave and pay unchanged, but additional paternity leave (APL) and pay to be abolished. l New right to unpaid time off for fathers to attend up to two ante-natal appointments – strictly speaking, up to 6.5 hours for each appointment. l Notification periods for paternity leave and pay will be aligned with the end of the fifteenth week before the expected week of childbirth or as soon as reasonably practicable. l Women who give binding notice before birth to end their maternity leave will have up to six weeks following the birth to revoke that notice. l Employees will need to give eight weeks’ notice of their eligibility to take ShPL and will need to include a non- binding indication at the outset of when they expect to take the leave. l Employees will be required to give eight weeks’ notice to take specific periods of leave, or to change a previous notification. There will be cap of three such notifications unless both employer and employee agree by mutual consent that a request will not count towards the cap. l The time limit for taking ShPL will be set at 52 weeks from birth. l Parents to be allowed to have up to twenty days at work per parent whilst on ShPL. The days that will be available to parents on ShPL will be renamed to distinguish them from keeping-in-touch (KIT) days for use during the maternity
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leave period. The KIT-type days on ShPL will be additional to the ten KIT days which will continue to be available to a woman whilst she is on maternity leave. l Employees who take ShPL will have the right to return to the same job when returning from periods of statutory leave comprising maternity, paternity, adoption or ShPL that totals 26 weeks or less in aggregate; even if the leave is taken in discontinuous blocks.
Adoption l Statutory adoption leave to become a day-one-right, abolishing the requirement for 26 weeks’ continuous employment. l The current notification arrangements for adoption leave and pay will apply to employees who qualify for adoption leave and pay under the new fostering-for- adoption placement process. l Eligible adopters will also be able to take ShPL. l Statutory adoption pay enhanced to mirror statutory maternity pay, i.e. first six weeks at 90% of average weekly earnings. l New right to time off for adopters to attend adoption meetings: paid time off to attend five meetings for the primary adopter and unpaid time off for the secondary adopter to attend two meetings.
General l The age limit for unpaid parental leave will increase from children under five to children under eighteen. l Parents in surrogacy cases who qualify for a parental order (i.e. there is a genetic link to the baby between one or both of the intended parents) will be eligible for unpaid time off to attend up to two ante-
natal appointments as well as statutory adoption pay and leave and, if eligible, ShPL.
The process l At any point once a mother has completed her period of mandatory maternity leave she can decide to end her maternity leave and enter a period of ShPL. l The mother and her partner must both meet the basic eligibility criteria in order to take ShPL. The criteria are: both must have worked for any 26 weeks out of 66 weeks preceding the baby’s due date and have earned at least £30 gross salary per week for any thirteen of those 66 weeks. ShPL is not available if one or both parent does not fulfil these criteria. l Once the mother has declared that she wants to end her maternity leave, she must decide with her partner how they want to divide the remaining leave and pay. l Both parents complete form ShPL1 advising how much leave and pay remains from the initial entitlement and the dates they wish to take leave. They will need to give eight weeks’ notice of their eligibility to take ShPL and will need to include a non-binding indication at the outset of when they expect to take the leave l The parents can change their minds as long as they give at least eight weeks’ notice of absence. l When a woman gives notice to end her maternity leave on a specified date and she and/or her partner has notified (i.e. via form ShPL1) their employer that they are eligible and plan to take ShPL and/or ShPP then the mother’s notice to curtail her maternity leave on the date specified
...ENHANCED TO MIRROR STATUTORY MATERNITY PAY, I.E. FIRST SIX WEEKS AT 90% OF AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS
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