Shared parental leave and pay

Introduction

Essentially, a birth mother is able to cut short her maternity leave and any associated statutory maternity pay. The balance of her entitlement is put into a pot available to her and the father/partner as shared parental leave and pay. Both parents must satisfy the qualifying criteria and decide together how to divide the pot of leave and pay between them. 

Most teachers and support staff have access to contractual maternity pay which far exceeds statutory maternity or shared parental pay, so it’s wise to consider carefully with your rep and your employer how and when you intend to take shared parental leave. In many cases, new mothers would be better off taking shared parental leave after contractual maternity pay has ended.

Provided the correct notice is given and depending on the terms of any local maternity or shared parental leave schemes, qualifying parents are entitled to structure blocks of ‘continuous’ shared parental leave during term times, coinciding their return to work with school closures, thus entitling them to be paid in full during the school holidays. 

The NEU expects good employers to encourage staff to exercise their entitlements in full but we have identified widespread misinformation and misunderstanding on the part of some employers, HR and school/college leaders about basic maternity and shared parental leave rights in the workplace. 

This guidance outlines some of the provisions on statutory shared parental leave and pay in the context of birth parents; similar provisions apply to adoptive parents. The statutory provisions are complex, especially relating to the notice requirements. 

The guidance on shared parental leave and pay sets out your minimum statutory employment rights as a teacher or support staff member in a school or college but we encourage members to work together to negotiate improvements to maternity and shared parental leave schemes.

 If you do have access to enhanced contractual maternity, paternity or shared parental leave or pay, such as the Burgundy Book or Green Book Maternity Scheme, you are entitled to exercise your statutory and contractual rights as a composite right which means that you can cherry pick the most favourable provisions. 

Your rights 

Eligibility for shared parental leave

To take shared parental leave, you must be an employee, meet the qualifying criteria, and have given the appropriate notice to your employer.

You are entitled to statutory shared parental leave if you are the birth mother, father or the birth mother’s spouse, partner or civil partner, including a same sex partner. You must both have responsibility for the care of your baby and you must intend to use any leave you take to care for your baby.

To take shared parental leave, you must meet the continuous employment test. This means that you must have been employed continuously by the same employer for at least 26 weeks up to the end of week 25 of the pregnancy - this is also referred to as the qualifying week or the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. You must also remain employed by the same employer in the week before your shared parental leave is due to start. 

In addition, your partner must meet the employment and earnings test. They must have been either employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66-week period leading up to the expected week of childbirth and must have earned on average, in 13 of those weeks, at least £30 per week, (that is £390 in total).

If you are the birth mother, self-employed and claiming Maternity Allowance, you will not be entitled to statutory shared parental leave (or pay); but the father/your partner may be entitled if he or she is an employee. 

You will not be eligible for shared parental leave if you are a single parent. If you are the birth mother and you have separated from your partner, however, you can access shared parental leave if you cut short your maternity leave and both you and your co-parent meet the qualifying conditions.

Taking leave

Leave must be taken in blocks of whole weeks. If the birth mother has given her employer binding notice that her maternity leave will come to an end early, the father/partner’s leave can start before the maternity leave has ended. The parents can take shared parental leave separately or at the same time.

Length of  leave 

The maximum amount of statutory shared parental leave that parents can take is 50 weeks, ending no later than your child’s first birthday. This equates to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave, minus two weeks of compulsory maternity leave. The number of weeks available depends on how many weeks of maternity leave the birth mother uses. 

Example A teaching assistant ends her maternity leave after 18 weeks; she gives notice of her intention to take three six-week blocks of continuous shared parental leave; her partner gives notice of her intention to take three two-week blocks of continuous shared parental leave; they use 42 of the available 52 weeks: 18 weeks of maternity leave plus 24 weeks of shared parental leave.

Pattern of leave

Shared parental leave can be taken in multiple blocks by you and your partner with breaks between the blocks during which you return to work on your full pay. 

You can take shared parental leave in blocks of a week; part weeks are not permitted in the statutory scheme.

The two patterns of shared parental leave are continuous leave and discontinuous leave. Continuous leave is generally more popular as employers are not entitled to refuse this type of leave, provided you qualify and have followed the notice requirements, so it is important that you do give the correct notice.

Continuous leave 

Continuous shared parental leave is a series of consecutive weeks over a single unbroken period. You can use up to 3 notices to take continuous leave. Your employer is not entitled to refuse a notice to take continuous leave.

To avoid your employer confusing continuous with discontinuous leave, we recommend that each request for a block of continuous leave is submitted on a separate notice. 

Example : A teacher curtails her maternity leave at the end of the autumn term and returns to work on full pay during the Christmas break; she sends three booking notices to her employer that she intends to take shared parental leave:

Block 1:      6 weeks in the first half of the spring term from January to mid-February, returning to work on full pay during the spring half term closure.

Block 2:      4 weeks in the second half of the spring term from February to mid-March, returning to work on full pay during the Easter closure.

Block 3:      6 weeks in the first half of the summer term from April to the end of May, returning to work on full pay during the May half term, then returning to work permanently.

Discontinuous leave 

Discontinuous shared parental leave is a series of intermittent periods of leave, interspersed with returns to work, for example you could request shared parental leave every other week from January to March, returning to work on your full pay between each week of leave. You may request two or more periods of discontinuous leave in a single booking notice. 

Once you have submitted your request for discontinuous shared parental leave, your employer has two weeks in which to accept it, suggest a different arrangement or refuse it. If you do not reach an agreement, you can either withdraw your notice or take the total amount of leave requested as a continuous block. 

If you withdraw your notice on or before the 15th calendar day after you originally gave it, it does not count as 1 of your 3 notices to take or vary leave. If you withdraw your notice 15 calendar days after you originally gave it, it counts as a notice to vary leave. This means you will have used 1 notice to take leave and 1 to vary it, so you have 1 notice left to take leave.

Shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days

Parents can work up to 20 shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days each during shared parental leave without bringing statutory leave to an end. These are in addition to the 10 keeping it touch (KIT) days already available to mothers on maternity leave. 

SPLIT days can be used to allow returning parents to attend staff meetings, briefings or relevant training, CPD or INSET days. They can be used for planning or preparation, in the workplace or at home, or to enable you to meet your students or any new colleagues. 

You can ask for SPLIT days to stagger your return to work, enabling you and your baby to ease into your new routine or to finalise any arrangements for a job-share or other flexible working arrangement. If you are an NEU rep and in need of some refresher training, you could ask for a paid SPLIT day to attend NEU reps training.

They are not mandatory – you cannot be compelled to attend a SPLIT day and your employer is not obliged to agree to your request for a SPLIT day. SPLIT days must be mutually agreed in advance between you and your employer, head or line manager. To avoid any confusion, you should agree the purpose, timing location and pay for a SPLIT day in advance.

Working for part of a day will count as one full SPLIT day. Your shared parental leave will not be extended by any SPLIT days that you work.

Pay for a SPLIT day must be at least the national minimum wage[1] and, to avoid the employer being liable for an equal pay claim, the payment should be the equivalent of your normal contractual rate of pay. 

Most employers will pay the normal contractual rate of pay; some offer time off in lieu of working a SPLIT day. Your employer is entitled - but not obliged - to offset the contractual pay you earn during a SPLIT day against the statutory pay you earned that week. 

It would be unlawful for your employer to treat you unfavourably, to subject you to a detriment or dismiss you for working a SPLIT day or for not agreeing to work a SPLIT day. 

Eligibility for shared parental pay

To qualify for shared parental pay, you must meet the continuity of employment test and the father/partner must meet the employment and earnings test – these tests are explained in the shared parental leave section. In addition, you must both have normal weekly earnings in the calculation period (the period of 8 weeks ending with the 15th week before your baby is due) of at least the lower earnings limit and you must both have given the appropriate notices to your employer.

If you and your partner/the father both qualify for statutory maternity pay and statutory paternity pay, you will also qualify for shared parental pay provided that you are still employed by the same employer before the start of the week in which you wish to take shared parental leave.

If you are the birth mother and you don’t qualify for statutory maternity pay, but receive Maternity Allowance, you will not be entitled to shared parental pay but you will meet the meet the employment and earnings test which would enable your partner/the father to qualify.

If you are a qualifying agency worker who is paid through PAYE, with tax and class 1 national insurance deducted through your employer’s payroll, you will be entitled to statutory shared parental pay.

 You will not have an entitlement to return to your assignment but we encourage employers and agencies to adopt and apply policies that are more generous than the statutory entitlements. 

Rate of pay 

Unless education unions have negotiated a higher rate of shared parental pay with your employer, you will be entitled to the basic rate of statutory shared parental pay or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. This is the same as the standard statutory maternity pay rate.

Length of pay

A maximum of 37 weeks of shared parental pay is available to parents who wish to share it; this is 39 weeks of statutory maternity pay, less two weeks’ pay during the two weeks of compulsory maternity leave following the birth.

Impact of shared parental leave on your job

If you are an employee, your terms and conditions - except those related to your pay - continue while you are on shared parental leave.

On your return to work, your seniority, pension and similar rights must be the same as they would have been if you had not been absent, and your terms and conditions must not be less favourable than those which would have applied if you had not been absent. 

You have a right to return to the job in which you were employed before your absence if you take less than 26 weeks of relevant statutory leave. This would include statutory maternity leave, shared parental leave or paternity leave.

Your right to return is modified if you take statutory maternity, shared parental leave or paternity leave consecutively in relation to the same child for more than 26 weeks. In this case, your right is to return to the same job or, if it is not reasonably practicable for your employer to permit you to return to that job, to another job which is both suitable and appropriate for you to do in the circumstances. 

If your job is at risk of redundancy, you have the right to be offered a suitable alternative post (if there is one) from the start of your maternity leave until 18 months from the expected date of childbirth or from the date of childbirth if you notify your employer of that date if your maternity leave ended on or after 6 April 2024; or from the start of your shared parental leave until 18 months from date of childbirth if you take more than 6 consecutive weeks of shared parental leave which began on or after 6 April 2024.

Employees are protected from dismissal or detriment for exercising their right to leave. Your employer must not treat you less favourably, for example by refusing your request for flexible working because you exercised your right to take shared parental leave. Similarly, you should not be asked to work during school closure periods if your peers are not asked to work during these periods; to do so would be detrimental and discriminatory.

If you are a qualifying agency worker, you may be entitled to statutory shared parental pay, but you will not have an entitlement to return to your assignment. We encourage employers and agencies to adopt and apply policies that are more generous than the statutory entitlements. 

Your actions 

Before you start your leave

• Familiarise yourself with your terms and conditions – they should be listed in your letter of appointment. Seek out the maternity, parental and other family related policies that apply in your school or college - your NEU workplace rep or school office should be able to help you locate them. 
• Use and share the practical packs of NEU Maternity Matters resources and other family rights guidance. Advocate for your school to adopt NEU model policies – to improve the working conditions of all working parents. 
• Ask your line manager to explain how SPLIT day arrangements work in your school or college and let them know your plans if you are already thinking of working some SPLIT days.
• Stay in contact with your rep and your NEU networks. Let them know how you would like to be contacted during your leave – you can benefit by staying in touch.

• Let the NEU know when you plan to start and end your leave. You do not have to pay membership fees for the duration of the period of shared parental leave up to a maximum of 18 months. The simplest way to tell us is by updating your details on myNEU 

  Once you have logged in, go to the workplace tab, click the change hours button, and fill in your anticipated dates under paid leave. Please note, we are unable to backdate requests for previous subscription years. If you have any difficulty accessing myNEU, you can also tell us your leave dates by emailing [email protected] or calling 0345 811 8111.

• If you are planning to take paternity leave and shared parental leave, make sure that you take your paternity leave before you take any shared parental leave.  If you take shared parental leave first, you will not be able to exercise your right to statutory paternity leave. 
• In the tragic circumstances of your baby being stillborn or dying within 28 days of being born, please refer to our pregnancy loss and termination resources which include guidance on leave for parents experiencing stillbirth and neonatal death.

 Leave - notifying your employer

• If you are the birth mother, you must give notice to your employer that you intend to curtail your maternity leave and pay, plus notice of the start and end dates of the blocks of leave the parents intend to take. These are sometimes known respectively as the ‘curtailment notice’ and the ‘booking notice’.
• Each parent must sign a declaration and send these and a written notice of entitlement to the employer.
• You must give 8 weeks’ notice to book shared parental leave; and you must give 8 weeks’ notice to vary or cancel your booked leave.
• You may give up to three notices to your employer of your intention to take blocks of shared parental leave; you may give more than three notices with your employer’s agreement. A notice to vary or cancel your leave would count as one notice. 
• You can use the curtailment notice, notice of entitlement and signed declaration provided by your employer or you can use the comprehensive Shared parental leave forms for maternity which you can find on the ACAS website. We advise that each booking notice for blocks of continuous leave is submitted separately to avoid your employer confusing this with discontinuous leave.
• Once you have submitted your notice, ask your employer to confirm that your leave is booked.

Pay - notifying your employer

• To claim shared parental pay you must give 8 weeks’ notice to your employers.
• You must provide a written notice of entitlement and signed declarations by each parent. This can be included in the notice of entitlement to take shared parental leave. 
• Within 14 days of receiving notices to claim shared parental pay, your respective employers may ask for the following additional information: a copy of your baby’s birth certificate, or if it has not been issued, a declaration signed by you stating that it has not been issued; and the name and address of the co-parent’s employer or a written declaration signed by you stating that the co-parent has no employer. You have a further 14 days to provide this information. 
• If you are the birth mother, and in receipt of Maternity Allowance, you won’t be entitled to shared parental pay yourself but you can make shared parental leave and pay available to your partner/the father by giving Jobcentre Plus 8 weeks’ notice of the date that your Maternity Allowance will come to an end. 
• Once you have submitted your notice, ask your employer to provide a pay forecast for each week of absence and for any periods between maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave until the end of the last block of shared parental leave.

While you are on shared parental leave 

• Check your payslips to make sure that you are being paid correctly.
• Discuss your return-to-work plans with your NEU rep and try to join any NEU meetings so that you are up to date on what is happening at work. 
• Prepare yourself and your baby in the run-up to your return to work. If you are breastfeeding your baby, check out our guidance on support for breastfeeding women. You could request KIT or SPLIT days to help you practice your routine and allow you to explore the rest facilities and practice your working arrangements.
• Keep records and screenshots of your communications with your employer or agency and confirm all important conversations by email.
• Ask your NEU rep for support if you are having difficulties in accessing your shared parental leave rights at work. 
• If you need further advice about your rights at work, contact the NEU AdviceLine on 0345 811 8111 or email us at  [email protected]