LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 2023

Shared Parental Leave (“SPL”) is a type of leave that is available to parents with babies due on or after April 2015. SPL enables the mother to commit to ending their Maternity Leave and pay at a future date, and to share the untaken balance of leave and pay as shared parental leave and pay with their partner, or to return to work early from Maternity Leave and opt in to SPL and pay at a later date.

SPL should not be confused with ordinary parental, which is unaffected by SPL (ordinary parental leave is the entitlement to up to 18 weeks' unpaid leave). Please speak to your manager for clarification.

The following definitions are used in this policy:

• "Mother" means the birth mother or expectant mother of the child.
• "Partner" means the father of the child, or the person who, at the date of the child's birth, is married to, the civil partner of, or the partner of the mother. This includes someone, of either sex, who lives with the mother and the child in an enduring family relationship but who is not the mother's child, parent, grandchild, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew.
• "Expected week of childbirth" or “EWC” means the week, starting on a Sunday, during which the mother’s doctor or midwife expects the mother to give birth.

AMOUNT OF SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE AVAILABLE

SPL is 52 weeks less the weeks spent by the mother on Maternity Leave. SPL must be taken in blocks of at least one week. The individual can request to take shared parental leave in one continuous block (in which case the organisation is required to accept the request as long as they meet the eligibility and notice requirements), or as a number of discontinuous blocks of leave (in which case the individual needs the organisation's agreement).

A maximum of three requests for leave per pregnancy can normally be made by each parent.

The first two weeks following birth are the compulsory maternity leave period and are reserved for the mother.

Paternity leave is additional to any shared parental leave entitlement you may have, but you will lose any untaken paternity leave entitlement once you start a period of shared parental leave.

This policy should be read alongside our policies on maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave. Depending on the context, these may also be relevant.

Although this policy does not deal with adoption and adoption leave, similar rules apply. If relevant to you, you should speak to your manager.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU ARE THE MOTHER

ARE YOU ELIGIBLE TO TAKE SPL?

To be eligible for SPL you must have been employed by us for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the EWC and be entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave.

In addition, you must also:

• still be employed by us until the week before SPL starts