Key elements of Shared Parental Leave

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Shared Parental Leave (SPL) can:

• start on any day of the week;

• only be taken in complete weeks (that is, if it starts on a Tuesday it will finish on the following Monday);

• be taken using three separate notices to book leave (although an employer can choose to accept more). This means that normally, leave can be divided into a maximum of three separate chunks of time. The scheme describes leave as either “continuous” or “discontinuous” (that is, split up into chunks of time);

• be taken by the partner while the mother or primary adopter is still on statutory maternity or adoption leave if the mother/primary adopter decides to cut short their leave entitlement to allocate some of it to their partner. In other words, both parents can be off work together; and

• be for a maximum of 50 weeks in total (that is, the length of the maternity or adoption leave period, less the compulsory two weeks’ leave).

• Charities Working Families and Maternity Action have worked with legal experts to develop SPLASH, a useful web portal with guidance on the SPL regime, available at: www.sharedparentalleave.org.uk.