Sharing statutory maternity or adoption leave

Shared adoption rights are available to both men and women, but for simplicity this part of the text refers to “the mother” and “she”.

A woman is not obliged to take all her statutory maternity or adoption leave, but where she has given birth she must take the compulsory maternity leave element (two weeks, or four weeks if she works in a factory). Instead of taking the full 52 weeks, she can decide to share her leave with her partner, by opting into shared parental leave (SPL). An adopter can decide to end their adoption leave and opt into shared parental leave once they have taken it for two weeks.

Shared parental leave is available for babies born or matched for adoption on or after 5 April 2015.