Parents whose children are due to be born or placed for adoption on or after 5th April 2015 can avail of new rights in relation to the time they take off work in the first year of the child’s life or placement for adoption.
There will be no change to the mother / adopter’s entitlement to take 52 weeks’ leave. However, if the mother / adopter wishes to end the period of maternity / adoption leave earlier than 52 weeks from the date of commencement, they have the option of sharing the remainder of their leave entitlement with their partner.
The new system of shared parental leave will replace the current system of additional paternity leave and will offer working couples more flexibility than the current additional paternity leave rights afford. Under the new arrangements, parents can choose to take time off together or divide the time off over the year between them however they see fit, subject to certain limits.
So, what are some of the key factors for employers to be aware of? Firstly, in order to be eligible for shared parental leave, the mother / adopter must serve notice that the maternity / adoption leave period is coming to an end earlier than 52 weeks from the date of commencement. Additionally, to be entitled to Shared Parental Leave, the employee must have 40 weeks’ service at the date of expected child birth or placement for adoption. Further, the employee’s partner with whom parental leave will be shared must satisfy an employment and earnings test. Fortunately employers can rely upon declarations from their employees in relation to eligibility, although they can ask to see birth certificates and to be provided with details of the partner’s employer in order to confirm eligibility.
Employees can take Shared Parental Leave in 3 blocks during the first year of a child’s life or the first year after placement for adoption. Provided that the employee gives at least 8 weeks’ notice of intention to take a block of Shared Parental Leave, the employee is entitled to the leave and the employer cannot refuse it. If the employee wants to split the block of leave up into smaller chunks (e.g. by taking 5 weeks’ Shared Parental Leave by working every other week for 10 weeks), an employer must consider this but is not under any obligation to facilitate this request.
In relation to entitlement to pay during a period of Shared Parental Leave, this will depend upon how many weeks’ maternity or adoption pay is paid to the mother / adopter. Maternity and adoption pay are payable for 39 weeks and so the number of weeks’ pay available to partners sharing parental leave between them will be 39 minus the number of weeks’ statutory maternity pay or statutory adoption pay that has been received by the mother / adopter. The statutory rate for Statutory Shared Parental Pay when it comes into effect in April will be the same as the statutory rates for statutory maternity and adoption pay – £138.18 per week, or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is the lower.
Quite what the level of uptake will be remains to be seen. The uptake on additional paternity leave was very low and time will tell if the more flexible shared parental leave is more attractive to parents.
The new arrangements are complicated. It is important that employers have policies in place so that the employer and employee can understand their various rights and responsibilities. In addition to a new shared parental leave policy, it would be important to update paternity leave policies to delete reference to additional paternity leave and to update adoption leave policies to make reference to the amendments regarding eligibility to take adoption leave (the continuity of service requirement is being abolished) and to reflect the fact that Statutory Adoption Pay will be calculated in the same way as Statutory Maternity Pay (i.e. first 6 weeks at 90% of wages, rather than the current 39 weeks at the statutory rate).
In addition, in Northern Ireland, the entitlement to request flexible working arrangements is being expanded from April 2015 and will mirror the arrangements already in place in GB. So, an update to a flexible working policy contained in you HR policy handbook would be important.
For further advice on Shared Parental Leave or the suggested policy updates referred to in this article, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Collective Questions is intended as a guide and for general information only and is not a substitute for taking specific advice relating to your situation. For specific advice regarding this or any other issue relating to employing people, please do not hesitate to contact us.
