Shared Parental Leave Policy - Template, Sample Form Pro · UK-law
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________
SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE AND PAY POLICY
§ 1. Purpose and Scope
1.1 This policy sets out the commitment of ________ ("the Employer") to providing Shared Parental Leave ("SPL") and Statutory Shared Parental Pay ("ShPP") to eligible employees in accordance with the Children and Families Act 2014, the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3050) and the Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/3051), together with the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 as amended from time to time.
1.2 SPL enables eligible parents to share the responsibility of caring for their child during the first 52 weeks following the birth or adoption of the child. This policy explains the eligibility criteria, entitlements to leave and pay, and the procedures to be followed.
§ 2. What is Shared Parental Leave?
2.1 SPL was introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014. It enables eligible parents to share an entitlement to leave and pay during the first year of a child's life or the first year following placement for adoption.
2.2 SPL does not remove an employee's right to take Statutory Maternity Leave, Statutory Adoption Leave or Statutory Paternity Leave. It provides additional flexibility as to how the care of the child is arranged between the parents.
§ 3. Eligibility for Shared Parental Leave
3.1 To be eligible for SPL, an employee must satisfy each of the following:
- (a) have been continuously employed by the Employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, or by the week in which they (or their partner) are notified of having been matched for adoption;
- (b) remain continuously employed by the Employer until the week before any period of SPL is taken;
- (c) have, or expect to have, the main responsibility for the care of the child (apart from the responsibility of the other parent), and share that responsibility with their:
- (i) spouse;
- (ii) civil partner;
- (iii) the partner with whom they live in an enduring family relationship;
- (iv) joint adopter; or
- (v) the child's other parent; and
- (d) have given the Employer the correct notice, including the declarations and evidence required by law and by this policy, confirming their own eligibility and that their partner satisfies the employment and earnings test.
3.2 The mother or primary adopter and their partner should each consider carefully whether they satisfy the qualifying criteria before any notice is given.
3.3 To enable the employee to qualify, the employee's partner must, in the 66 weeks before the expected week of childbirth or the date of matching for adoption:
- (a) have been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks; and
- (b) have earned, on average, at least the statutory minimum amount (currently ________) in 13 of those 66 weeks (the "employment and earnings test").
§ 4. Entitlement to Leave
4.1 SPL is created by the mother or primary adopter bringing their Statutory Maternity Leave or Statutory Adoption Leave to an early end ("curtailment"). The mother must take a minimum of two weeks' compulsory maternity leave (or four weeks where she works in a factory) immediately following the birth before any maternity leave may be curtailed. A primary adopter must take a minimum of two weeks' adoption leave.
4.2 The balance of the 52 weeks of maternity or adoption leave that remains untaken at the point of curtailment becomes available as SPL to be shared between the eligible parents, up to a maximum of 50 weeks.
4.3 SPL must be taken in complete weeks and may be taken at any time within the period beginning on the date of birth (or placement for adoption) and ending 52 weeks after that date.
4.4 A father or partner may take any Statutory Paternity Leave entitlement before commencing SPL, but may not take Statutory Paternity Leave once any SPL has been taken in respect of the same child.
§ 5. Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)
5.1 To qualify for ShPP, an employee must:
- (a) have been continuously employed by the Employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or the week of being notified of a match for adoption, and remain in employment until the week before payment;
- (b) have normal weekly earnings of at least the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions (currently ________ per week) for the eight weeks ending with that 15th week; and
- (c) have a partner who satisfies the employment and earnings test set out in § 3.3.
5.2 ShPP may be payable for up to 39 weeks in total between both parents, reduced by the number of weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Statutory Adoption Pay already received. The maximum number of weeks of ShPP available to be shared is therefore the balance remaining out of 39 weeks.
5.3 ShPP is paid at the lower of:
- (a) the prescribed statutory weekly rate (currently ________ per week); or
- (b) 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings.
5.4 The Employer shall continue to make employer pension contributions in accordance with the relevant pension scheme rules during any period for which ShPP is paid. The Employer is not obliged to make such contributions during any period of unpaid SPL, save as required by law.
§ 6. Notice of Entitlement and Intention
6.1 An employee who intends to take SPL must give the Employer written notice of their entitlement to, and intention to take, SPL at least eight weeks before the first period of SPL is to begin. This notice must be given to ________ using the following form: ________, which can be obtained from:
________
6.2 A brief description of the information required for ________ is as follows:
________
6.3 The notice of entitlement and intention must include: the names of both parents; the start and end dates of any maternity or adoption leave or pay; the total amount of SPL and ShPP available; how the parents intend to divide the leave and pay; a non-binding indication of the leave the employee intends to take; and signed declarations from the employee and their partner as to their eligibility.
6.4 The mother or primary adopter must also give the Employer (or the partner's employer, as applicable) written notice curtailing their maternity or adoption leave at least eight weeks before the date their leave is to end. A curtailment notice may be revoked only in the limited circumstances permitted by the Regulations.
6.5 The Employer may, within 14 days of receiving the notice of entitlement, require the employee to provide:
(a) a copy of the child's birth certificate (or, if not yet available, a declaration of the date and place of birth);
(b) in adoption cases, the name and address of the adoption agency, the date the employee was notified of the match and the expected date of placement;
(c) the name and business address of the partner's employer (or, if the partner is self-employed, the partner's name and address together with a declaration confirming eligibility).
6.6 The employee must provide any such evidence within 14 days of the Employer's request.
6.7 An employee may request that information regarding the birth or adoption of their child be kept confidential from other employees so far as is reasonably practicable having regard to the operational needs of the Employer.
§ 7. Period of Leave Notices (Booking Leave)
7.1 Having given notice of entitlement and intention, the employee must give the Employer a period of leave notice specifying the start and end dates of the SPL to be taken. This may be given at the same time as the notice of entitlement and intention or separately, but in all cases at least eight weeks before the start of the leave.
7.2 An employee is entitled to give up to three period of leave notices in respect of each child. Each notice may request either:
(A) a single continuous period of leave; or
(B) two or more periods of discontinuous leave with returns to work in between.
7.3 The Employer encourages employees to discuss intended leave dates with their manager before submitting a formal notice. Where agreement cannot be reached on discontinuous leave, the employee is entitled to take the total leave requested as a single continuous block beginning on the start date specified in the notice.
7.4 SPL must be taken in complete weeks. The day of the week on which a period of SPL begins is determined by the day the employee chooses to start their leave.
Continuous leave
7.5 A request for a single continuous period of leave, made in accordance with this policy, is automatically granted and the Employer will confirm the dates in writing.
Discontinuous leave
7.6 A request for discontinuous leave will be considered by the Employer having regard to the needs of the business and the impact on other employees. Within the 14-day period following the request, the Employer may: (a) consent to the pattern requested; (b) propose an alternative pattern; or (c) refuse the pattern, in which case the employee may take the total leave as a single continuous block or withdraw the notice in accordance with § 8.
§ 8. The Employer's Response and Withdrawal of Notices
8.1 The Employer will respond to any period of leave notice within 14 days of receiving it.
8.2 A continuous leave notice will be confirmed in writing on or before the 14th day following the notice.
8.3 Where a discontinuous leave notice is not agreed, the employee may, on or before the 15th day after the notice was given:
(a) take the total amount of leave requested as a single continuous period beginning on a chosen date no earlier than the date originally proposed;
(b) withdraw the notice, in which case it shall not count as one of the employee's three notices provided it is withdrawn on or before the 15th day; or
(c) choose a new start date, provided it is at least eight weeks after the original notice was given and the Employer is informed at least five days before the end of the 14-day discussion period.
8.4 If the Employer fails to respond within 14 days of a continuous leave notice, the employee is entitled to take the leave on the dates specified in the notice.
§ 9. Variation and Cancellation of Leave
9.1 An employee may vary or cancel a period of SPL by giving the Employer written notice at least eight weeks before the date of the change. Such a notice should be given to the employee's manager.
9.2 A notice to vary or cancel counts as one of the employee's three period of leave notices, unless the variation is requested by the Employer or arises because the child is born earlier than the expected week of childbirth.
9.3 If, after a period of SPL has begun, it is found that the employee or their partner does not satisfy the eligibility criteria, the entitlement to SPL and ShPP will end, and the employee may take any period of maternity, adoption or paternity leave available to them in place of the SPL.
9.4 The Employer will confirm any variation or cancellation in writing.
§ 10. Keeping in Touch (SPLIT) Days
10.1 An employee on SPL may, by agreement with the Employer, work for up to 20 days during their SPL without bringing the period of SPL to an end or losing entitlement to ShPP. These are known as Shared Parental Leave in Touch ("SPLIT") days and are in addition to any Keeping in Touch (KIT) days available during maternity or adoption leave.
10.2 SPLIT days are entirely optional. Neither the Employer nor the employee is obliged to offer or accept them. The nature of the work and the rate of pay for any SPLIT day shall be agreed in advance.
10.3 Any work carried out on a single day counts as one whole SPLIT day, regardless of the number of hours worked. Working in excess of the 20 SPLIT days may bring the period of SPL to an end and result in the loss of further entitlement to ShPP.
§ 11. Returning to Work
11.1 The Employer will confirm in writing the date on which the employee is expected to return to work following SPL. The employee is expected to return on the next working day following the end of the confirmed period of SPL.
11.2 An employee who wishes to return to work earlier than agreed must give a variation notice in writing at least eight weeks before the new return date. This counts as one of the employee's three notices. Where all three notices have been used, the Employer is under no obligation to agree to an early return but may do so where operationally compatible.
11.3 An employee who is unable to return owing to illness or injury must follow the Employer's normal sickness absence reporting procedure. An unauthorised failure to return will be treated as unauthorised absence and dealt with under the Employer's disciplinary procedure.
11.5 An employee who wishes to change their working pattern on return may submit a flexible working request under the Employer's Flexible Working Policy, a copy of which can be obtained as follows:
________
§ 12. Annual Leave
12.1 SPL is in addition to an employee's statutory and contractual annual leave. An employee continues to accrue annual leave entitlement during SPL and should agree with the Employer how and when accrued leave is to be taken.
§ 13. Protection from Detriment and Dismissal
13.1 An employee is protected from suffering any detriment or being dismissed for a reason connected with taking, seeking to take, or making use of the benefits of SPL, in accordance with the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014. Any such dismissal will be treated as automatically unfair.
§ 14. Data Protection
14.1 The Employer will process personal data relating to SPL and ShPP in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Such data will be processed only to the extent necessary to administer this policy and to comply with the Employer's legal obligations, and will be retained in accordance with the Employer's privacy notice and retention policy.
§ 15. General
15.1 This policy is made in accordance with all relevant and applicable legislation as in force from time to time and applies to all employees of ________.
15.2 This policy takes effect from ________ and may be amended or updated by the Employer from time to time. It remains in force until revoked by the Employer.
Signed: _________________________________
Name: (________)
Position: ________
For and on behalf of ________
Date: ________
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