Shared parental leave brings new complications for employers

Estimated reading time 3 minutes

From 1 December 2014 (and not 1 October as originally anticipated), the new Shared Parental Leave (SPL) regulations will come into force in England and Wales. These will be provided alongside the current Maternity and Parental Leave regulations 1999, giving employees a choice about how they manage their childcare.

How Shared Parental Leave works

For babies due (or a child adopted) on or after 5 April 2015, the new parents will now have a choice of maternity leave for the mother and/or SPL for both parents. The current system of Additional Paternity Leave (APL) and Pay will be abolished. In summary, SPL works as follows:

• Parents can share 50 weeks’ leave in the year following a child’s birth or adoption (the mother must take the first two weeks post birth). Leave can be taken concurrently or consecutively, in blocks of weeks or continuously.
• Both parents will be paid during their period of SPL (subject to service and income requirements), up to the relevant existing levels of statutory maternity pay.

In order to qualify for SPL the mother must curtail her maternity rights and opt into the SPL regime. Both parents must also satisfy service requirements to qualify for SPL. Once opted into the SPL regime, a mother may not revert to her maternity rights.

Commentary

The new Shared Parental Leave regulations will impose new administrative requirements for HR and it is vital that systems are in place for tracking and managing different leave patterns before April 2015. As maternity leave will continue to be available alongside Shared Parental Leave, it is important that employees understand the options available to them. Companies should communicate the new arrangements to any affected employees to ensure that they make an informed decision and there are no grounds for redress should they feel misinformed.

Resources

Children and Families Act 2014 Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations 2014 For further information or to discuss any of the issues raised, please contact Emma Clark, David Widdowson or Sophie White on +44 (0) 203 051 5711 at Abbiss Cadres – www.abbisscadres.com Disclaimer Content is for general information purposes only.  The information provided is not intended to be comprehensive and it does not constitute or contain legal or other advice.  If you require assistance in relation to any issue please seek specific advice relevant to your particular circumstances.  In particular, no responsibility shall be accepted by the authors or by Abbiss Cadres LLP for any losses occasioned by reliance on any content appearing on or accessible from this article.  For further legal information see our legal page. Circular 230 disclosure To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS and other taxing authorities, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this article (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties that may be imposed on any taxpayer or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. Copying If you would like to copy or otherwise reproduce this article then you may do so provided that: (1) any such copy or reproduction is for your own personal use or if it is made available to any third party it is done so on a free of charge basis; and (2) the article is reproduced in full together with the contact details, disclaimer and any logos as they appear on each article.