Parents of babies due to be born or adopted from April next year will be able to choose how to share time off work, provided they meet certain eligibility criteria.
From 1 December 2014, new shared parental leave rights will enable eligible mothers, fathers, partners and adopters to split leave between them.
Employment relations organisation Acas said that the new leave arrangements were designed to give parents more flexibility in how to share the care of their child in the first year following birth or adoption, adding: “Parents will be able to share a pot of leave, and can decide to be off work at the same time and/or take it in turns to have periods of leave to look after the child.”
The option to use the new shared parental leave rights will apply to parents meeting eligibility criteria and where a baby is due to be born or placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015.
To qualify for shared parental leave and pay, a mother must be entitled to maternity or adoption leave, or statutory maternity or adoption pay or maternity allowance and must share the main responsibility for caring for the child with the child’s father or her partner. There are also two other steps to establish eligibility:
- a parent seeking to take shared parental leave must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks at the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC) or at the week when they were notified of having been matched with a child for adoption. They must still be employed in the first week that shared parental leave is to be taken. The other parent must have worked for 26 weeks in the 66 weeks leading up to the due date and have earned more than £30 a week in 13 of the 66 weeks
- to qualify for shared parental pay the parent must, as well as passing the continuity test, have earned an average salary of the lower earnings limit or more (currently £111) for the eight weeks’ prior to the 15th week before the EWC.
Lara Murray, associate solicitor in Palmers’ Employment Law team, said: “This employment law reform is likely to be welcomed by many future working parents but if employers are not clear about their obligations and responsibilities, it can cause confusion and difficulty in the workplace”.
“These types of issue can usually be resolved informally but sometimes employees may require legal advice. We offer fixed fee interviews but some household insurance policies may also include cover for legal fees incurred in an employment dispute. For more information, please contact our Employment Law team”.