If you employ staff, then there is a good chance at some point a member of your team will become a parent. At this juncture you will need to ensure that you ensure that you have legally sound policies on maternity and paternity as well as adoption and shared parental leave. Failure to comply with...
Read Time: 7 Minutes
If you employ staff, then there is a good chance at some point a member of your team will become a parent. At this juncture you will need to ensure that you ensure that you have legally sound policies on maternity and paternity as well as adoption and shared parental leave.
Failure to comply with employment law on parental leave can result in becoming ensnared in expensive legal action, with financial penalties and reputational damage to boot.
To ensure you don’t fall foul of employment legislation, contact the advisory team at Employer Advice on 0800 470 3549.
Shared parental leave is useful for eligible parents in sharing responsibility for caring for their child. Parents can be eligible in the first year through either the birth of their child, adoption and a parental order through surrogacy.
Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay. This can be shared equally between each parent or split up into blocks meaning each parent can get 3 blocks of time off each. You can decide if your business wants to be more flexible than this.
Be advised in the case of a birth, the parent who gives birth must take 2 weeks off as maternity leave (4 for warehouse workers) by law. Once this period of leave has subsided then shared parental leave can start.
Employees must hit certain eligibility criteria to participate in shared parental leave. There must be two parents sharing responsibility for the child, and this can include:
Parents eligible for shared parental leave, must be legally classed as an employee and must share responsibility for the child from day one. They should also pass both the continuity of employment and the employment and earnings tests to qualify.
One of the eligibility tests that employees must pass to qualify for SPL is continuity of employment. This means that employees taking shared parental leave must:
Note: Absence (incapacity or sickness) does not affect continuous employment status, unless this period is more than 27 weeks. In which case then continuous employment is considered broken.
If parents change employers then SPL does not carry over.
To qualify for SPL, parents should match the following criteria, 66 weeks before the baby’s due date:
One parent who is eligible for maternity or adoption leave must meet the employment test whilst the other must pass the employment and earnings test. Note: Self-employed earners are not eligible for SPL or pay but passing the employment and earnings test could allow their partner to be eligible for shared parental leave and pay. This is on the condition that their partner is not also a self-employed earner. In the case that both parents qualify then they can take shared parental leave as they see fit.
If a member of your team is looking to adopt then they may used shared parental leave, under the following conditions:
After the first two weeks, they can use their shared parental leave entitlement providing that they give notice in advance and that they meet the required criteria of the tests.
As with birth, partners are defined in this situation as:
Depending on the arrangement, an employee having a child through surrogacy has the right to adoption from day one of employment, as long as they have a parental order or they have applied or intend to apply for one (there must be the expectation that this will be granted). To be eligible they still need to meet the criteria in the required tests.
In the case that your employee is a surrogate, they have the right to maternity leave. If they are a surrogate for another couple then they aren’t eligible for shared parental leave, however after the child is born the employee is still entitled to maternity leave.
Statutory shared parental pay works out at around £184.03 per week or 90% of an employee’s average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). Parents can get up to 37 weeks SSP and can claim this once the birth parent or primary adopter finishes their maternity or adoption pay (this includes maternity allowance).
A shared parental leave policy should be created alongside but separately from a maternity leave policy, and having one does not automatically mean that your business by default has both.
Consider the fact that employees taking shared parental leave have faced discrimination, and it should be staunchly outlined in your policy that employees taking shared parental leave are protected under law from such acts.
Your shared parental leave policy should include:
Got an employee requesting shared parental leave? Need clarification of eligibility? Contact Employer Advice and one of our Employment Law specialists can find a solution that suits your business based on your circumstances.
Call us today on 0800 470 3529.