Law at work 2021 - the trade union guide to employment law (July 2021)

Chapter 9

Sharing statutory maternity or adoption leave

[ch 9: page 328]

An employee has the right to take the full 52 weeks of statutory maternity or adoption leave. In the case of maternity leave, a woman who has given birth is required to take the first two weeks as compulsory maternity leave (the first four weeks if she works in a factory).

In the case of both maternity and adoption leave, after the first two weeks, the employee can choose to share the remaining 50 weeks of leave with their partner, by opting into the shared parental leave (SPL) scheme.


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