Shared Parental Leave and Pay

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone can help. I am looking at the implications for shared parental leave if someone was to take this in my organisation. I have a few general queries where I would really appreciate guidance:

- if a maximum of 50 weeks was shared between parents equally, does this equate to 25 weeks each whether taken together or separately? So this could be 5weeks parents take together (both parents taking 5 weeks so equalling 10 weeks worth of shared) and then 1 parent takes 20 weeks alone followed by the other parent taking 20 weeks alone?

- payment of statutory shared parental pay (around £139 p/w) is this shared between the parents or do they both get this allowance seperately? As only 37 weeks is paid, is this 18.5 paid weeks per parent?

- what do you feel the implications of the recent Network Rail case will be? We currently pay enhanced mat and pat pay but only statutory shared parental pay - is this something we need to look at in light of the recent case?

Really hope someone will be able to help, I have been doing a lot of research and feel like I am going around in circles!

Many thanks,

Grace

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  • Hi Grace

    I dug out some info this is courtesy of PLC which is great employment law resource tool.

    Identifying how much SPL is available to each parent
    Both parents must agree between them the amount of SPL each of them will take. Neither parent can take SPL unless the other has signed a declaration giving their consent to the division of leave as set out in the notice of entitlement and intention to take SPL.

    The SPL period

    SPL may be taken at any time:
    • Where it is taken on the birth of a child, within the period which begins on the date C is born (or, where more than one child is born as the result of the same pregnancy, the date on which the first child is born) and ends the day before C's first birthday
    • Where it is taken on the adoption of a child, within the period which begins on the date C is placed with A (or, where more than one child was placed through a single placement, the date of the placement of the first child) and ends the day before the first anniversary of the date on which C was placed for adoption
    There is only one entitlement to SPL:
    • In relation to any pregnancy, irrespective of how many children are born, or expected, as a result of the same pregnancy
    • In relation to any adoption placement, irrespective of how many children are placed through that placement
    SPL must be taken in multiples of complete weeks  It may be taken as one continuous period or in discontinuous periods. The minimum period of SPL which may be taken is one week.
    Calculating the amount of SPL available to each parent (birth)
    Broadly speaking, the amount of SPL that is available to each parent will be how much they decide to share between them once the total amount of maternity leave or the total amount of the maternity pay or allowance period is taken into account.
    When parents want to share SPL between them, they will need to calculate the amount of available leave by starting with 52 weeks and deducting the amount of the statutory maternity leave period or the amount of her statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance period that M has taken (or will take) before she either returns to work or curtails her entitlement:
    The number of weeks resulting from that calculation is then reduced by the amount of leave that has been claimed by the other parent, or which the other parent is required to take, see The SPL available to each parent.
    For information on how M curtails her statutory maternity leave or her statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance period, see M must curtail her statutory maternity leave, SMP or MA.

    Effect of paternity leave

    Although the overall SPL entitlement is reduced for each week the mother spends on maternity leave, the same cannot be said for P's entitlement to ordinary paternity leave (and pay), which is entirely separate. So if you include maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave, the total amount of leave available to the couple is 54 weeks, of which two (compulsory maternity leave) are reserved to the mother and two (ordinary paternity leave) are reserved to the father (or mother's partner).

    Where M is entitled to statutory maternity leave

    Where M is entitled to statutory maternity leave, the total amount of SPL available is 52 weeks less:
    • Where there is a leave curtailment date, the number of weeks of statutory maternity leave taken before the leave curtailment date (irrespective of whether or not M returns to work before that date).
    • Where there is no leave curtailment date, the number of weeks of statutory maternity leave taken before the date M returns to work.
    For these purposes, a part of a week in which maternity leave is taken is to be treated as a whole week

    Where M is entitled to statutory maternity pay

    Where M is not entitled to statutory maternity leave, but is entitled to statutory maternity pay, M is not entitled to SPL and the total amount of SPL available to P is 52 weeks less:
    • Where M returns to work without reducing her statutory maternity pay period, the number of weeks of statutory maternity pay payable to M up to the date M returns to work.
    • In any other case, the number of weeks of statutory maternity pay payable to M up to the pay curtailment date.
    For these purposes:
    • A week is a period of seven days beginning with the day of the week on which the maternity pay period begins (as provided by section 165(8) of the SSCBA 1992).
    • A part of a week in which statutory maternity pay is payable is to be treated as a whole week.

    Where M is entitled to maternity allowance

    Where M is not entitled to statutory maternity leave, but is entitled to maternity allowance, M is not entitled to SPL and the total amount of SPL available to P is 52 weeks less:
    • Where M returns to work without reducing her maternity allowance period (under section 35(3A) of the SSCBA 1992), the number of weeks of maternity allowance payable to M up to the date M returns to work.
    • In any other case, the number of weeks of maternity allowance payable to M up to the allowance curtailment date.
    For these purposes:
    • A week is a period of seven days beginning with Sunday (as provided by section 122(1) of the SSCBA 1992).
    • A part of a week in which maternity allowance is payable is to be treated as a whole week.

    The SPL available to each parent

    The amount of SPL that each parent is entitled to take is the total number of weeks available (see above), less any weeks of SPL which the other parent has notified, taken, or been required to take, and any weeks of statutory shared parental pay which either parent is claiming which are not weeks of SPL
    The reference to "weeks of statutory shared parental pay" is intended to deal with the fact that shared parental pay is available to "employed earners", which may include people, such as agency workers and ministers of religion, who are not employees (and therefore not entitled to SPL). The effect is that if M is an employee and P is an agency worker, any non-working time spent by P claiming shared parental pay will be deducted from the amount of shared parental leave available to M.

    The Network Rail case from memory is not binding on other courts but I think gives a useful pointer to employers which way the Courts will view this in future.

    I hope the above is of use!

    Regards

    Sarah

    • Hi Sarah,

      Thanks for posting. Even after reading the above I'm still a little confused as to whether to £139.58 p/w is shared between the parents or whether they both get £139.58 p/w when taking a block of ShPL? So if parents took seperate blocks, they would get £139.58p/w but if they took a block together, they would need to share the £139.58 between them? Also, if the leave is taken together, does each week taken count as 2 weeks because each parent is taking 1 week? I'm just so conscious that I need to be accurate about this!

      Best wishes,

      Grace

      • Hi Grace,

        My understanding (although I'm sure someone will kindly correct me if wrong) is that if parents choose to share the leave then they both get £139.58pw.  The total amount of combined leave cannot exceed 52 weeks, therefore the weekly payments are no more than if just one parent was taking all of the leave. 

        For example, if both parents choose to take 25 weeks off at the same time (after the mothers compulsory 2 weeks), then they would both get £139.58pw - the total paid being equivalent of 50 weeks paid at £139.58pw. 

        Hope that helps. 

        Becky 

        • Hi Becky,

          Thank you for your response - this is what I have deduced also but was concerned this was not the case. I will go with that concept until anyone tells me otherwise! Although, only 39 weeks are paid (minus the two weeks that must be taken as Mat leave) so 18.5 weeks paid if taken together. I don't know why they have made it so confusing!

          Many thanks,

          Grace

          • Yep, all the family leave policies/rules seem to be overly complicated - the hardest policies to try and make for simple reading! :) 

            I must say though, I haven't actually had anyone take this up since it was introduced (work in a company of c150, for reference); I was the same as you at first, but have now taken the approach of putting the policy in place (using a template from XpertHR) and will then find out the specifics should someone enquire. 

            • I might be wrong but I think I heard that it was between the 2 parents. I may have dreamt it though. I have emailed a contact that I have to see if they can help!

              • Hi Hannah,

                Thanks - I think you are right and that it is shared. I think it basically gets decided between the parents how much leave and therefore how much pay they have. So one may choose to take 30 weeks, 20 of which to be paid and the other parent may choose 20 weeks, 17 of which to be paid (or something along those lines). I believe that if they take leave together then they will need to share the entitlement between them so lets say 50 weeks taken together, 37 weeks paid but sharing £139.. between them. 

                If that makes sense?

                Thanks,

                Grace

                • Yeah so the ShPL starts after the compulsory leave ends (i.e. 2 weeks, or 4 in a factory). They then have up to 1 year to take the leave. They can take it in blocks or in one go. So the mum can be off for a certain length of time then the dad or the dad then the mum or they can both be off. They will only get the £139 either way.

                  I'm writing my policy for work at the minute so this is all new to me!

                  Hannah

                  • Phew, glad I finally got it! We already have our policy in place (taken from XpertHR) but reading it didn't really make me any the wiser, if I'm honest. Plus, since the Network Rail case, it would be good to review the policy anyway.

                    Thanks,

                    Grace

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