Shared Parental Leave

To be eligible, the birth parent or primary adopter must have ended their maternity or adoption leave and returned to work (in cases of maternity, the birth parent must take the minimum 2 weeks compulsory maternity leave).

A parent who wants to take shared parental leave must:

• be sharing responsibility with the other parent from the day of the child's birth or placement

• be legally classed as an employee

• pass the Continuity of Employment test

• have a partner that passes the Employment and Earnings test

The parent taking shared parental leave must:

• have worked for us for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due or the adoption match date

• still be working for us at the start of each block of shared parental leave

The other parent must have:

• worked for at least 26 of 66 weeks up to the expected birth date or match date

• earned an average of at least £30 a week in any 13 weeks up to the expected birth or match date

If you're eligible, you can take up to 50 weeks shared parental leave. This depends on how much maternity or adoption leave has already been taken. 

You can give up to 3 notices that you want to take or amend the dates of shared parental leave and you can either take continuous shared parental leave or discontinuous shared parental leave.

You can request up to 3 blocks of continuous shared parental leave (running consecutively) and we can't refuse these requests, provided you're eligible and have given us the correct notice.

You can request blocks of leave on and off throughout the year. We can refuse these request if its not suitable and we can suggest alternatives, so its best to speak to your manager before requesting discontinuous leave. 

If we can't come to an agreement you can either withdraw your request or take continuous leave instead.

If you withdraw your request on or before the 15th calendar day after you made it, it doesn't count as one of your 3 notices to book or vary leave. If you withdraw your request after the 15th calendar day, it will.

If you decide to let your discontinuous leave become continuous leave, within 19 days of your original request you can choose when your continuous leave will start (this can't be sooner than 8 weeks from the original date of leave) or you can let your continuous leave start when your first period of discontinuous leave would have started - you'll need to let us know which option you are choosing.

Before you request shared parental leave, we'd appreciate it if you could discuss your plans with your manager so we can discuss options and support. 

When you're ready to apply for shared parental leave, you'll need to complete the form on our intranet (see below). We may also need your partner to sign the form if you are not the birth mother/primary adopter.

You can either specify a date you want your shared parental leave to start, or you can let us know you want it to start a set number of weeks after the baby is born or the child is placed, then you'll just need to let us know when this happens.

You'll need to give us at least 8 weeks' notice for any changes and each time you do this it counts as one of your 3 notices (unless we agree otherwise). You'll need to complete a new shared parental leave request form.

If your baby is born more than 8 weeks' early, we'll wave the usual 8 weeks' notice to vary, but would ask for as much notice as possible (if you have to make changes under these circumstances it won't count as one of your 3 notices).

We can ask you to change your dates, but you don't have to agree to this and it won't count towards one of your 3 notices.

Once the birth parent or primary adopter has returned to work, they can't restart maternity or adoption leave and they can't revoke their notice of curtailment unless:

• notice was given before the birth or placement started (in which case it can be revoked up to 6 weeks after the birth or placement start date)

• the other parent dies

• it turns out neither parent was entitled to shared parental leave and pay

If you pass the continuity of employment test, your partner passes the employment and earnings test and you earn at least the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit for at least 8 weeks before the 15th week of the expected birth or adoption match you'll be eligible for up to 39 weeks shared parental pay, depending on how much maternity or adoption pay has been taken. This is paid at standard prescribed rates

If you are taking shared parental leave and you cease to have responsibility for the child you must tell us straight away. Your entitlement to shared parental leave will end and you can return to work. However, if we've already arranged cover for your workload, we may require you to stay on shared parental leave for up to 8 weeks, although you won't be eligible for shared parental pay during this time.

In the tragic event that your child passes away, you can still take any shared parental leave you have booked, or you can decide to take less leave or change discontinuous leave to continuous leave. You can't book any new blocks of leave after the child has passed away, but there are other options available in the form of maternity leave, adoption leave, paternity leave and parental bereavement leave.

If you're eligible for shared parental leave and the other parent passes away, you can still take your leave as planned and you can transfer and use any leave due to be taken by the other parent. You don't need to give us 8 weeks' notice, but please do tell us as soon as you can. Even if you've already exhausted your 3 notices, you can still make more in these circumstances.

You're entitled to up to 20 Shared Parental Leave In Touch (SPLIT) days. These days need to be agreed between us - we don't have to offer them and you don't have to accept them.

Any SPLIT days worked are counted as a full day, even if you only work an hour, and you'll be paid at your normal basic rate.