Shared Parental Leave rules 


Key features of the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) are:


• a woman must take the first two weeks’ compulsory maternity leave following birth (four weeks if she works in a factory). She can choose whether to share the balance of her leave;


• a woman who wants to opt into SPL must give at least eight weeks’ binding notice to bring her maternity leave to an end. That notice can be given at any stage, including before the birth. However, to allow her to change her mind after the birth, there is a window of up to six weeks after the birth to withdraw the notice; 



• at the same time as giving notice of their eligibility and intention to take SPL, parents are expected to provide a non-binding indication of their intended leave pattern; 


• in addition, employees must give eight weeks’ notice of their intention to take specific periods of leave; 


• the number of requests for SPL or changes to leave is capped at three. However, this does not prevent voluntary arrangements being agreed with the employer;


• employers are given some ability under the rules to veto the proposed pattern of leave and to insist on it being in one continuous block;



• each parent can work 20 “SPLIT” (shared parental leave in touch) days, in addition to the 10 “KIT” days available to a woman on maternity leave, to “keep in touch” with the workplace; 



• parents can both take the leave at the same time if they want to;



• parents can take SPL until the child’s first birthday; and



• the right to return to the same job is only available where the total amount of leave taken by that employee, even if taken in discontinuous chunks, adds up to 26 weeks or less.