Shared Parental Leave
Human Resources
Updated March 2015
AR/HR/Shared Parental Leave
SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE AND PAY
Terminology for the purposes of this guidance
‘Mother’ refers to birth mothers;
‘Primary adopter’ refers to the designated primary parent in an adopting couple;
‘Partner’ refers to the child’s father or mother’s/primary adopter’s partner, e.g. spouse, civil
or long-term partner
‘Parent’ refers to one of two, or both people who will share the main responsibility for the
child’s upbringing (and who may be either the mother, the father, or the mother’s partner if
not the father, or adoptive parents);
‘Qualifying week’ is the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC)
What is Shared Parental Leave?
Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) enables parents to share a
period of leave and pay in the 52 weeks immediately following the birth or adoption of their
child. SPL is only available to employees; it is not available to casual and agency workers or
self-employed contractors.
Eligible parents have the option to end their period of maternity or adoption leave, pay or
allowance early and to convert any ‘unused’ part of that leave and pay into SPL and ShPP. A
mother or primary adopter must take the first two weeks following the birth or placement of
the child as maternity or adoption leave. After that, maternity or adoption leave and pay may
be curtailed and eligible parents may split the remainder of the 52 week leave and 39 week
pay entitlement, i.e. up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay, between them. The
minimum amount of SPL and ShPP that can be taken is one week. Leave can be taken in a
continuous period or in a discontinuous period (up to 3 separate blocks) interspersed with
periods of work.
Any time spent on maternity or adoption leave by the mother or the primary adopter will
reduce the amount of SPL available.
Time spent on paternity leave will not reduce the amount of SPL and ShPP available.
However, any untaken ordinary leave will be lost as soon as the father / mother’s partner
starts a period of SPL (from 5 April 2015, Additional Paternity Leave will no longer be
available).
Parents may be able to take SPL at the same time or at different times. The scheme is
intended to provide flexibility to eligible parents and allows them the opportunity to start and
stop their shared leave and to return to work between the periods of leave. Parents are not
obliged to take SPL.
Qualifying for Shared Parental Leave (SPL)
In order to qualify for Shared Parental Leave staff must satisfy each of the following criteria:
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The mother / adopter of the child must be / have been entitled to at least the statutory
maternity / adoption leave, or pay, or maternity allowance, and must agree to end
their maternity / adoption leave and pay (or allowance) period early.
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Staff must still be working for the University at the start of each period of SPL.
Staff must have at least 26 weeks of continuous service with the University at the end
of the 15th week before the EWC, or on the date of the adoption placement.
The other parent must have worked (in an employed or self-employed capacity) in at
least 26 weeks of the 66 weeks before the EWC, or the date of the adoption; and had
average weekly earnings of at least £30 during 13 of those weeks.
In order for both parents to take and share SPL, each parent must qualify in their own right. A
family leave and pay calculator is available on the government’s website, which enables
individuals to work out whether they and their partner are eligible for the statutory
entitlements of maternity, paternity and / or SPL.
Qualifying for Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)
In addition to satisfying the eligibility criteria for SPL, in order to qualify for statutory ShPP,
each parent must have earned an average salary of the Lower Earnings Limit (average
weekly earnings of £111 per week, before tax) or more for the eight weeks prior to the
qualifying week. Statutory Shared Parental Pay is at the rate of £138.18 per week.
If only one parent is eligible
Sometimes only one of the parents may qualify for SPL. In such cases the eligible parent
may still use SPL, for example, to allow them to request leave in separate blocks, since
maternity leave / adoption leave must be taken in a continuous block without the possibility of
returning to work and then restarting maternity / adoption leave again.
The mother/primary adopter must end, or agree to end their maternity / adoption leave, pay
or allowance, on a future date to allow a period of SPL to be taken. Notices by the employee
must still be submitted in the required timeframes.
The Shared Parental Leave entitlement
Eligible staff may be entitled to take up to 50 weeks SPL in the 52 weeks immediately
following the birth or adoption of their child. The number of weeks available is calculated
using the mother’s / adopter’s entitlement to maternity / adoption leave, which allows them to
take up to 52 weeks’ leave. If they reduce their maternity/adoption leave entitlement then
they are / or their partner may opt-in to the SPL system and take any remaining weeks as
SPL.
A mother / adopter may reduce their entitlement to maternity / adoption leave by returning to
work before the full entitlement of 52 weeks has been taken, or they may give notice to
curtail their leave at a specified future date.
If the mother / adopter is not entitled to maternity / adoption leave but is entitled to Statutory
Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) or Maternity Allowance (MA) they must
reduce their entitlement to less than 39 weeks. If they do this, their partner may be entitled to
up to 50 weeks of SPL. This is calculated by deducting from 52 the number of weeks of
SMP, SAP or MA taken by the mother / adopter.
SPL can commence as follows:
 The mother can take SPL after she has taken the legally required two weeks of
maternity leave immediately following the birth of the child.
 The adopter can take SPL after taking at least two weeks of adoption leave
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The father / partner / spouse can take SPL immediately following the birth / placement
of the child, but may first choose to exhaust any paternity leave entitlements (as the
father / partner cannot take paternity leave or pay once they have taken any SPL or
ShPP).
Where a mother / adopter gives notice to curtail their maternity / adoption entitlement then
the mother / adopter’s partner can take leave while the mother / adopter is still using their
maternity / adoption entitlements.
SPL must end no later than one year after the birth / placement of the child. Any SPL not
taken by the first birthday or first anniversary of placement for adoption is lost.
Notifying the University of an Entitlement to Shared Parental Leave
Staff entitled and intending to take SPL must give their line manager notification of their
entitlement and intention to take SPL, at least eight weeks before they can take any period of
SPL.
Notification must be in writing and requires each of the following:
 Their name and department;
 The name of the other parent;
 The start and end dates of any maternity / adoption leave or pay, or maternity
allowance, taken in respect of the child and the total amount of SPL available;
 The date on which the child is expected to be born and the actual date of birth, or in
the case of an adopted child, the date on which the employee was notified of having
been matched with the child and the date of placement for adoption;
 The amount of SPL the employee and their partner intend to take;
 A non-binding indication of when the employee expects to take the leave;
 A signed declaration from the employee.
The employee must also provide the University with a signed declaration from their partner
confirming:
 Their name, address and national insurance number;
 That they are the mother / adopter of the child, or they are the father of the child, or
are the spouse, civil partner or partner of the mother / adopter;
 That they satisfy the employment and earnings test (see above), and had at the date
of the child’s birth or placement for adoption the main responsibility for the child,
along with the employee;
 That they consent to the amount of SPL that the employee intends to take;
 That they consent to the organisation processing the information contained in the
declaration form.
Booking Shared Parental Leave
Eligible staff have the right to submit three notifications specifying leave periods they are
intending to take. Each notification may contain either (a) a single period of continuous
weeks’ leave; or (b) two or more weeks of discontinuous leave, where the individual intends
to return to work between periods of leave.
SPL can only be taken in complete weeks but may begin on any day of the week. For
example, if a week of SPL begins on a Tuesday it would finish on a Monday.
Staff must book SPL by giving the correct notification at least eight weeks before the date on
which they wish to start the leave and (if applicable) receive ShPP.
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Continuous leave notifications
SPL can be taken as continuous leave, which means a number of weeks taken in a single
unbroken period of leave (for example six weeks in a row) so long as it does not exceed the
total number of weeks of SPL available to them, and the employee has given the University
at least eight weeks’ notice.
Staff may submit up to three separate notifications for continuous periods of leave.
Discontinuous leave notifications
SPL can be taken as discontinuous leave, which is a period of SPL of a least a block of one
week, followed by return to work, and followed by another period of SPL of at least a block of
one week. Staff can take up to three separate blocks of leave provided that eight weeks’
notice is given before each period.
All notices for a continuous period of leave, from eligible staff, will be accepted provided the
necessary notifications have been given. However, it may not always be operationally
possible for the department to agree to this. Departments will not unreasonably refuse a
request for discontinuous leave, and they may propose an alternative pattern of leave
instead, or request the employee takes the leave in a continuous block.
Contact during Shared Parental Leave
A member of staff may be contacted during shared parental leave by the University or
department to ensure they are kept up to date with activities/information.
SPLiT days (shared parental leave in touch days) are available for staff to work up to a
maximum of 20 days during their shared parental leave. Each parent may take up to 20
SPLiT days each. These days are in addition to the 10 keeping in touch (KIT) days available
to those on maternity or adoption leave. There is, however, no requirement for staff to carry
out SPLiT days, nor for departments to agree to one.
An employee taking a SPLiT day will receive full pay for any day worked. If a SPLiT days
occurs during the week when the employee is receiving ShPP, this will ‘topped up’ so that
the individual received full pay for the day in question.
Pension Membership
Members may remain in their existing pension scheme during shared parental leave.
Subject to scheme rules for USS and UPS (as amended), contributions will be as follows:
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during any normal full pay period contributions will be deducted as usual;
During any periods of reduced pay or ShPP, employee contributions will be
deducted based on the level of pay or ShPP actually payable. The University will
make up contributions and pay employer’s contributions as if the member of staff
were on normal full pay;
during any periods of unpaid leave, pension membership is suspended
If you are participating in PensionsPlus immediately prior to shared parental leave you
should contact Human Resources Pensions for guidance on any potential impact of
PensionsPlus.
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Further enquiries on the implications of shared parental leave on pension membership,
including whether it would be possible to make good any periods of suspended pension
scheme membership should be directed to Human Resources Pensions.
Enquiries relating to pensions other than USS and UPS should also be made to Human
Resources Pensions.
Pay / Entitlements
Increments and / or cost of living increases will continue during leave and will be taken into
account for the calculation of pay and ShPP. Staff on shared parental leave who are eligible
for Merit Pay will be asked if they wish to make a submission.
Academic and research staff will continue to accrue eligibility for study leave during shared
parental leave.
Payslips will continue to be sent to departments during leave and staff should make
arrangements with managers ahead of leave as to where they should be sent.
Holiday Entitlement
Staff accrue normal contractual annual leave pro rata during the full period of shared parental
leave. Statutory and Customary days which fall during the period of shared parental leave
are accrued at your normal entitlement (pro rata for part-time staff). Leave for the year to 30
September is normally lost if not taken by 31 March the following year, and employees will be
expected to take this leave before 31 March. However, where it is not possible to take the
accrued leave before 31 March the leave owing may be carried over into the new leave year.
Annual leave can only be taken before or after a period of shared parental leave (i.e. not
during shared parental leave).
In general, academic staff take annual leave during vacation so that teaching commitments
can be met. If, however, the majority of a member of staff’s shared parental leave falls
across a vacation and it is not possible for them to take annual leave consideration will be
given to allowing annual leave in term time. As much notice as possible should be given so
that departments have the chance to accommodate requests.
Returning to Work
Staff taking SPL are entitled to return to the same job. Staff may not return to work within two
weeks of the birth / adoption of their child. Staff may however return to work earlier than
previously notified provided 56 days’ notice has been given. Return from shared parental
leave should be confirmed as soon as possible to HR so that appropriate pay is received.
Not Returning to Work
If, after careful deliberation, staff do not wish to return to work following shared parental
leave, they should inform their department in writing, giving the notice required in their
contract.
Fixed Term Contracts
If the contract of employment expires during shared parental leave, or within 52 weeks of the
start of shared parental leave, staff should talk to their department and HR.
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Further Information
Further information is available from link HR Advisers, Payroll and from local Benefits
Agencies.
If you require this publication in hard copy or in an alternative format please contact HR.
REVIEW
HR will review these guidelines on an annual basis.
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