Shared Parental Leave and Pay



Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is a right that enables eligible mothers, fathers, partners and adopters to choose how to share time off work after their child is born or placed for adoption (see page 66). It replaced Additional Parental Leave for all babies born on or after 5 April 2015.



It is up to the mother to decide whether or not to convert her statutory maternity leave entitlement into shared parental leave. If she says no, then her partner cannot insist on SPL. 


SPL and pay is available to a birth mother and the child’s father or a mother’s or adopter’s partner. “Partner” means a person who the mother or adopter is married to or in a civil partnership with; or a partner who the mother or adopter is living with in an enduring relationship. Shared parental leave and pay is also available to intended parents in surrogacy arrangements who qualify for adoption leave and/or pay.



Agency workers who are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Paternity Pay are not eligible for SPL, but their employed partner may be. Agency workers and/or their partners may also be entitled to statutory Shared Parental Pay.



The TUC welcomed SPL as a way to “encourage more fathers to get involved in childcare from the very beginning”, but warned that unless the leave is backed up with better pay, many couples will be unable to take advantage of these rights. 


A Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) survey carried out in December 2016 found that only 5% of new fathers and 8% of new mothers have opted to take shared parental leave since it was introduced.


There are complex and extensive eligibility and notification requirements for those wishing to use the rights to SPL. A group of charities and legal experts has produced a useful web portal providing help in navigating the new Shared Parental Leave regime, called ‘SPLash’ at: www.sharedparentalleave.org.uk