Developers guide to shared parental leave and pay of child during period of payment of statutory...

1 SDST Guide to SPL and ShPP Version 5.1 22/04/15

DEVELOPERS GUIDE TO SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE AND PAY

(BIRTH and ADOPTION)


Contents Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 4 Abbreviations and definitions .................................................................................................................. 6 Overview of Shared Parental Leave and Pay (SPL/ShPP) .................................................................... 8

Examples of entitlement and how SPL/ShPP can be used: .............................................................. 10

SPL/ShPP example including leave pattern/dates and timeline (continued on next page) .............. 14

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) ............................................................................................................... 16 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 16

Detail .................................................................................................................................................. 17

Binding nature of a curtailment notice ........................................................................................... 17

Entitlement ......................................................................................................................................... 19

1) In relation to the employee (E) .................................................................................................. 19

2) In relation to the Other Parent ................................................................................................... 19

Calculating how much SPL is available? ........................................................................................... 20

The notice requirements .................................................................................................................... 20

Notifying eligibility and intention to take SPL ................................................................................. 20

Checks required by the employer ...................................................................................................... 22

Supplementary evidence requirements ............................................................................................. 23

Notice to book leave .......................................................................................................................... 23

Application of terms and conditions during shared parental leave .................................................... 24

Contractual rights to shared parental leave ....................................................................................... 24

Service of notices .............................................................................................................................. 24

Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) ................................................................................................................ 25 Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 25

Detail .................................................................................................................................................. 26

Entitlement to ShPP (birth) ............................................................................................................ 26

Entitlement to ShPP (adoption) ..................................................................................................... 27

Notification arrangements for ShPP .............................................................................................. 28

Variation of number of weeks of pay to be claimed and of periods when pay is to be claimed .... 29

Calculating the number of weeks entitlement to ShPP .................................................................. 29

Period of payment of statutory shared parental pay ...................................................................... 30

Work during period of payment of ShPP ....................................................................................... 30

Care of child during period of payment of statutory shared parental pay ...................................... 31

Cases where there is no liability to pay statutory shared parental pay ......................................... 31

Change of notice conditions in the case of an early birth .............................................................. 31

Patterns of leave ................................................................................................................................... 34 Notice periods for leave ..................................................................................................................... 34

Summary of notice period dates ........................................................................................................ 35

Flowchart – Process to agree start date with employer .................................................................... 37

Leave pattern examples .................................................................................................................... 38

Start and end dates of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) .......................................................................... 44 Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) ............................................................................ 48

Example: The number of unused SMP weeks available for ShPP is set at the point the mother returns to duty from maternity leave. ............................................................................................. 51

Example) Mother returns to work before the binding notice date .................................................. 53


Changes that can affect entitlement to SPL and ShPP ........................................................................ 54 Notice to end maternity or adoption leave is revoked ....................................................................... 54

Revocation of curtailment notice at 6 weeks following birth .............................................................. 54

Notice to curtail maternity or adoption leave at a future date is revoked because the mother’s or adopter’s partner dies ........................................................................................................................ 55

Flowchart - process for revocation within 6 weeks of child’s DOB. ................................................... 59

The (employee) mother or partner is no longer caring for the child. ................................................. 60

Following initial notification it is discovered that there is no entitlement to SPL/ShPP ..................... 60

Death of the child or breakdown in adoption ..................................................................................... 61

Death of the mother/adopter ............................................................................................................. 61

Death of the partner (where the mother/adopter has not curtailed her leave and pay) .................... 62

Statutory Paternity Leave/Pay and Shared Parental Leave/Pay ...................................................... 62

Employee is sick ................................................................................................................................ 63

Shared Parental Leave In Touch (SPLIT) days .................................................................................... 64 Recovery of ShPP ................................................................................................................................. 65 Part Week Payments ............................................................................................................................ 66 Annual up-rating .................................................................................................................................... 66 Common data items and validation checks .......................................................................................... 67 Shared Parental Leave and Pay forms ................................................................................................. 73 AMENDMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 74

Version 5.0 to version 5.1 .................................................................................................................. 74





Version 1.0 to Version 2.0 ................................................................................................................. 85


SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE AND PAY

Introduction The following link takes you to the Government’s consultation documents for Shared Parental Leave and Pay .Links to the regulations which set the overarching framework for shared parental leave and pay are given below. The regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure and will be debated in both Houses in the autumn of 2014. Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111118856/contents Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations- http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111118832/contents Maternity and Adoption Leave (Curtailment of Statutory Rights to Leave) Regulations 2014 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111118863/contents Employer guidance and Technical Employer Guidance has also been published on Gov.uk The technical guidance for employers provides more specialised and lower level detail than that contained in the main employer guidance. This document is for payroll software developers designing payroll software products for employers. It contains:-

detailed descriptions of the processes and requirements for employees and employers,

examples of various scenarios,

data items and data validation checks. This document and test data will be published on the HMRC/Gov.uk websites in due course but until then updated versions will be issued by HMRC’s Software Developers Support Team (SDST). This guide does not contain a list of mandatory requirements for payroll software. Developers are free to design their own solution based on the requirements and information included here. It will also provide developers with the information to make informed decisions about which functions to support within their products. It therefore includes details of the interaction between the employee and their employer and could also be used to help develop user instructions in addition to software requirements. Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) will apply to babies due and children placed for adoption on or after 5th April 2015. So where a child is matched for adoption before 5th April and placed on or after 5th April the new arrangements will apply. It is therefore possible that early births give rise to the first cases of SPL and ShPP from around December 2014. From this point forward leading up to 5th April 2015 and beyond, the payments and recovery amounts of ShPP should be reported to HMRC in the Real Time Information (RTI) fields for Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP). Introduction of SPL and ShPP will mean that Additional Paternity Leave (APL) and Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) will be abolished for babies due and children placed for adoption on or after 5th April 2015. APL and ASPP will still apply to due dates and placements before 5th April (irrespective of children are born later) so both systems will run from approximately December 2014 until well into the 15/16 tax year where both APL and SPL and ASPP and ShPP can exist.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-administration-of-shared-parental-leave-and-pay

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-administration-of-shared-parental-leave-and-pay

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2014/9780111118856/contents



https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay/overview

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shared-parental-leave-and-pay-employers-technical-guide


For 15/16 the ASPP RTI data items will be renamed to ShPP and the FPS/EPS files submitted by payroll software should be amended to reflect this. Please refer to the 15/16 technical packs. These data items must be used to report both ShPP and ASPP amounts. Please not that HMRC’s employer facing information will refer to ASPP/ShPP during 15/16 and then be amended to ShPP for 16/17. Other Statutory Payment changes for the 2015/16 tax year:- Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP) will be renamed to Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP). For children where the matching for adoption is notified to the employer on or after 5th April 2015:- Statutory Adoption Leave will become a ‘day one’ right and the 26 week continuous employment rule for Statutory Adoption Leave will be abolished. The 26 week employment rule will continue to be a qualifying condition for payment of Statutory Adoption Pay. The first 6 weeks of SAP will be paid at 90% of the average weekly earnings. After that SAP will be paid at the lower of either the weekly standard rate or 90% average weekly earnings. This will mirror the current arrangements for SMP. This applies to all Adoption Pay Periods (39 week APP) which start on or after 5 April 2015. There will be a new right to time off for adopters to attend adoption meetings – paid time off to attend 5 meetings for the “primary” adopter and unpaid time off for the “secondary” adopter to attend 2 meetings. Intended parents in surrogacy cases where the child is due on or after 5 April 2015, who intend to apply and are eligible to obtain a Parental Order (Parental Order Parents) will become eligible for time off for up to 2 ante-natal appointments, statutory adoption leave and pay and, if eligible, shared parental leave and pay. The intended parents in surrogacy cases may become entitled to adoption leave and pay even though they are not adopting the child. They are not entitled to maternity leave and pay because that is restricted solely to the women who give birth. The birth mother in surrogacy situations is still entitled to maternity leave and pay. Adoption leave/SAP for intended parents will be available for babies due on or after 5th April 2015 but it can only be taken from the date of birth (unlike adoption leave/SAP for GB adoptions where it can be taken up to 2 weeks before the child arrives). If the baby is born early (between 1 December and 4 April), the intended parents will still be entitled to adoption leave/SAP (and paternity leave and pay), however under the old regime – where there is a 26 week qualifying requirement and no enhancement to pay. Software developers with questions about the information in this document should email HMRC’s Software Developers Support Team

mailto:[email protected]


Abbreviations and definitions

A Adopter the person who is taking adoption leave and/or pay. Generally, this will be someone who is adopting a child from a GB adoption agency. However, Intended Parents (see below) and Prospective Adopters (see below) may also entitled to adoption leave and pay.

APP Adoption Pay Period

ASPP Additional Statutory Paternity Pay

C Child (or children if twins or multiple birth or adoption) in relation to whom an entitlement to SPL or ShPP arises.

Claimant parent The person (either M or P) to whom ShPP is paid or payable

DOB Date of Birth

E Employee

EEs Employees

EET Employment and Earnings Test.

The other parent satisfies this test if they have been engaged in employment as an employed or self-employed earner for any part of the week in the case of at least 26 of the 66 weeks immediately preceding the expected week of birth; and has average weekly earnings of not less than the amount set out in section 35(6A) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 Act (which is currently £30) in relation to the tax year preceding the tax year containing the expected week of birth.

ERs Employers

EWC Expected Week of Confinement/childbirth

Fostering for adoption

Also known as concurrent planning. Individuals who are approved as local authority adopters, and have also been approved as suitable to adopt a child (prospective adopter) may have a child placed with them who it is probable will, ultimately, be adopted by them. Whether a placement is a normal fostering arrangement or a fostering for adoption arrangement will be clear before the placement happens. Whereas regular foster parents are not entitled to adoption leave and pay, prospective adopters may be entitled to adoption leave and pay when a child is placed with them.

Intended Parents A couple who are having a baby through surrogacy who consider that they meet the requirements to obtain a parental order and intend to apply for one, have applied for one, or have received a parental order. (See parental order below)

Leave regs The Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014

M Mother or expectant mother of C

MA Maternity Allowance

MAP Maternity Allowance Period

MPP Maternity Pay Period

NINO National Insurance Number

SPP Statutory Paternity Pay

Other parent In the case of M or A, this means P. In the case of P this means M or A.

Parent M or P

P

The father of C, or the person who at the date of C’s birth or the date C is placed for adoption is married to, or the civil partner or the partner of M. Partner means a person (whether different sex or same sex) who lives with M or A (as the case may be) as well as C in an enduring family relationship but is not M’s or A’s child, parent, grandchild, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew. C’s father or M or A’s spouse or civil partner does not have to live with M or A and C. A partner who is not C’s father or married to M or A must be living with M or A and C at the same address.


Parental Order The legal document which permanently reassigns parenthood of a child born through surrogacy so that the intended parents become the legal parents.

QW Qualifying Week (also called the relevant week in the regulations). In respect of birth the QW is the week immediately preceding the 14th week before the expected week of birth. The QW is also described as the end of the 15th week before the EWC. In respect of adoptions the QW is the week in which A was notified they had been matched with C, or notified that a child is coming to live with them on a fostering for adoption/concurrent planning basis. In surrogacy situations, the QW is the week immediately preceding the 14th week before the expected week of birth. The QW is also described as the end of the 15th week before the EWC. This mirrors a non-surrogacy birth situation.

RTI Real Time Information

SAP Statutory Adoption Pay

SDST Software Developers Support Team

ShPP Statutory Shared Parental Pay

SMP Statutory Maternity Pay

SSP Statutory Sick Pay

SEEC Small Earnings Exemption certificate

SPL Shared Parental Leave

SPLIT days Shared Parental Leave In Touch days

Continuity of employment test An employee satisfies the continuity of employment test if the employee—

(a) has been continuously employed with an employer for a period of not less than 26 weeks ending with the relevant week (QW); and

(b) remains in continuous employment with that employer until the week before any period of shared parental leave taken by the employee.

(2) In respect of SPL resulting from the birth of a child, including in surrogacy arrangements, (as opposed to adoption), where C is born earlier than the relevant week (QW) and an employee would have satisfied the condition in sub-paragraph (a) above if the employee’s employment had continued until the end of the week immediately preceding that week, the employee must be treated as having satisfied that condition.

(3) “Relevant week” in respect of birth means the week immediately preceding the 14th week before the expected week of birth

“Relevant week” in respect of surrogacy arrangements means the week immediately preceding the 14th week before the expected week of birth.


Overview of Shared Parental Leave and Pay (SPL/ShPP)

1) An overview of the scheme is given below but it is recommended that you read the Government’s Employer guidance and Technical Employer Guidance on Shared Parental Leave and Statutory Shared Parental Pay on the Inside Government pages of Gov.uk 2) Eligible employees in working couples who share the care of the child will be able to share any maternity leave and pay (i.e. SMP or MA) remaining when M ends her maternity leave and/or her maternity pay period or maternity allowance period early. The same applies to an adopter who is entitled to adoption leave and/or Statutory Adoption Pay. This is called ‘curtailing’ her maternity leave (or adoption leave) and curtailing the Maternity Pay Period during which she would be eligible to be paid SMP when absent from work; or the Maternity Allowance Period, during which she would have been entitled to receive MA when absent from work; or the Adoption Pay Period, during which the adopter would have been entitled to receive SAP when absent from work. 3) Curtailing the maternity or adoption leave can create entitlement to SPL and curtailing the MPP or MAP or APP can create entitlement to ShPP, provided all the eligibility conditions are met. In the case of a self-employed mother or an agency worker, curtailing the MPP/ MAP/APP can give rise to an entitlement to both SPL and ShPP for P. 4) M can end her maternity leave by returning to work, or by providing her employer with notice that she will end it on a specific future date. An adopter (A) can also end his or her adoption leave in the same way. Returning to work does not bring the maternity pay period (MPP) or maternity allowance period (MAP) or the adoption pay period (APP) to an end. The MPP/MAP/APP runs for a continuous period of 39 weeks from the first day of entitlement. A mother who is absent from work during that 39 week period, for whatever reason, is entitled to be paid SMP or MA. Similarly, an adopter absent from work during the same period is entitled to SAP. In order to create entitlement to SPL and/or ShPP, M (or A) has to curtail (end early, or reduce) her maternity leave period and her MPP and MAP (or an adopter his or her APP), if she is entitled to it. Under the new system there are two ways she can do this. Maternity leave and pay does not have to be curtailed on the same date. A mother (or adopter) can return to work (thus ending her maternity or adoption leave) and then give notice at a later date telling her employer when she wants the MPP/MAP/APP to end; or whilst still taking maternity leave and/or SMP or MA (or adoption leave and SAP) a mother or adopter can give notice that she will end her maternity leave and/or SMP or MA on a future date (or adoption leave and SAP) 5) Where either M/A or P have notified their employer that they are entitled to take SPL and/or ShPP, this notice to curtail maternity or adoption leave and MPP/MAP/APP is binding, except in certain limited circumstances (described later in this document). 6) Where M or A provides her employer with notice that she will end her maternity or adoption leave and SMP or MA (or SAP) on a future date the balance of untaken maternity leave and SMP or MA can be taken as SPL or ShPP. This allows P to start SPL/ShPP at any time from C’s DOB onwards (or the date of placement of an adopted child), even if M is still on maternity leave (or A on adoption leave). In cases involving adoptions from overseas, an adopter can take SPL/ShPP from the point at which the child enters Great Britain. However, in most cases of birth and adoption it is unlikely that SPL/ShPP will be taken in the first two weeks as P is likely to take paternity leave. 7) An employee can be entitled to SPL but not ShPP if they meet the continuity of employment conditions but do not have sufficient average weekly earnings to qualify for pay. 8) Employees who are entitled and intend to take SPL and/or ShPP are required to give a notice to their employer. Notifying the employer is required for eligibility. Model forms will be provided, setting out the information and evidence that must be included in a notification. The forms are not statutory

https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay/overview



forms but guidance will recommend that employees use the forms to communicate with their respective employers to ensure that the correct and complete information is given without delay. 9) Developers are free to design their own solution around the requirements and validation checks described in this document but the employer’s payroll software will only need a full employee record for their employee. It is not necessary to have a full record set up for the other partner who, in most cases, will work elsewhere or may be self-employed or, in some cases, not currently working. However, to enable automated calculations and validation checks in the software it will be necessary to have a record of the number of weeks of leave being taken by both partners and other information relating to the M’s maternity leave (or A’s adoption leave). This information will be provided by the employee.


Examples of entitlement and how SPL/ShPP can be used: Both entitled: Shilpa and Raj: Both have been employed as accountants for several years and both earn good salaries. Shilpa is pregnant and as an employee is entitled to maternity leave. She is also entitled to SMP as she was working for the same employer before she became pregnant (so meet the 26 week test for SMP) and has earned the Lower Earnings Level (currently £111/week) for the relevant 8 week period. Shilpa decides to end her maternity leave and SMP after 20 weeks and so 32 weeks of maternity leave and 19 weeks of pay become available as SPL and ShPP. Both Shilpa and Raj are jointly entitled to the 32 weeks of SPL and 19 weeks of ShPP so they must decide between themselves how they will share it. Sam and Chris: Sam and Chris are married and are having a baby through surrogacy. They looked into surrogacy carefully and are sure that they will meet the conditions to obtain a parental order when their baby arrives. Sam works full-time and Chris part-time at a local supermarket where they have been since leaving school. Sam has elected to take the adoption leave and pay, and Chris will take paternity leave and pay. They are both meet the entitlement conditions for SPL and ShPP. Their baby is due to be delivered by caesarean section on 1 July, and they begin their respective adoption/paternity leave on that date. Sam gave notice to end her adoption leave at 2 weeks before the baby was born and they share the remaining 50 weeks leave equally as SPL. Sam opts to be paid for all her SPL, and Chris receives ShPP for 12 of his weeks. M/A only entitled: Beata and Pavel: Both work for high street stores. Beata has worked for the same employer for several years but Pavel changed jobs when Beata was 3 months’ pregnant as he wanted to earn more money with a family on the way. If Beata chooses to end her maternity leave and SMP early, she would be entitled to SPL and ShPP because she meets the duration of employment test (which is similar to that for SMP) and Pavel would meet the employment and earnings test, because he has worked for 6 months out of the 15 months leading up to the baby’s due date and has earned over £30/week for over 3 months. However, Pavel would not be entitled to take any SPL or ShPP himself as, even though Beata meets the work and earnings requirement, Pavel does not meet the continuity of employment test as he had changed employers recently. Beata may choose to end her maternity leave and SMP in favour of SPL and ShPP as it would meant her leave would be more flexible than maternity leave and she could return to work in December for the Christmas rush in the shop whilst her mother took care of the baby and then Beata could take some more leave in the new year after her mother has returned home (this would not be possible if she stayed on maternity leave as it must be a continuous block). Julie and Ademola: Julie and Ademola are adopting a young boy. Julie has worked for 2 years with her present employer, a film production company; Ademola is a self-employed cameraman. When they know they have been matched with a boy, and that he will be coming to live with them in a month’s time, Julie books adoption leave to begin 2 weeks before he arrives to get things ready for his arrival. Although Ademola is not eligible for ShPP or SPL (because he is not an employee and does not meet the continuity of employment test) as he has been working regularly over the last year, he meet the partner’s (employment and earnings) test allowing Julie to opt in to the SPL/ShPP system. Julie moves to SPL/ShPP as she wants to be at work for the weeks surrounding the BAFTAs, the Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival, and knows that Ademola can schedule his filming contracts around that. Julie takes 6 weeks’ adoption leave and pay (to ensure she receives the full 90% enhancement of SAP), 33 weeks SPL and 33 weeks ShPP. In total, she takes 39 weeks leave and pay. Maia and Giorgi: Giorgi is a translator for an international publishing house. Maia teaches piano three hours a week. They have been approved for adoption and receive notification that a baby will be placed with them shortly on a fostering for adoption basis – the baby hasn’t been born yet, but the local authorities know they will take responsibility for it as soon as it is born and think that Giorgi and Maia would make a good permanent home. Giorgi elects to take adoption leave and pay, and as Maia meets the employment and earnings test they can choose to opt in to SPL and ShPP.


P only entitled: Teresa and Paco: Teresa is a self-employed fashion designer and Paco is a waiter who has worked for the same employer for a long time and he earns £150 a week. Teresa has no entitlement to maternity leave as she is self-employed but is entitled to MA. She is keen to return to work at the earliest opportunity as she has a collection to finish for a big show. They decide that Paco will become the baby’s primary carer and Paco notifies his employer 6 weeks before the birth of his entitlement and intention to take SPL and ShPP immediately after his 2 weeks paternity leave and pay. Teresa notifies JobCentre Plus that she will not claim MA after the first 2 weeks following the birth. Teresa has no entitlement to SPL or ShPP as she is not employed. Paco will take the maximum available of 50 weeks of SPL and 37 weeks of ShPP. Neither entitled: Siu and Yuri: Siu is employed part-time in a car-hire company and Yuri is a self-employed window cleaner. Siu is entitled to maternity leave as an employee but does not have the length of service nor earn enough to receive SMP. She is entitled to MA as she used to be a hairdresser and has worked for long enough to meet the MA requirements. Yuri has worked for 10 years continuously and earns around £500 a week regularly. If Siu decided to end her maternity leave, she would not qualify for SPL as she left her hairdressing job when she was already pregnant. Consequently, she does not have the continuity of service (26 weeks at the 15th week before due date) to qualify for SPL or ShPP. Yuri does not qualify for SPL or ShPP as he is not an employee. Barbra and James: Barbra is adopting a young girl. Her new partner, James, is not jointly adopting the child. Barbra is studying at college but has recently taken on some piece work stuffing envelopes to supplement her income. James, also a mature student, works behind the bar evenings and weekends. Barbra is not an employee and does not have the continuity of employment to receive Statutory Adoption Pay. There is no Adoption Allowance (equivalent to MA). She is not, therefore, eligible for SPL/ShPP. Examples of how SPL/ShPP may be used Rebecca and Jim Rebecca is pregnant with her first child, due at the end of July 2015. She is a marketing manager l, and her partner, Jim, works on the IT support desk of the local council. The couple have an expensive mortgage, and Rebecca’s income is significantly higher than Jim’s. The occupational maternity scheme provided by her employer only lasts 12 weeks, and in any case she would like to return to work early. Rebecca decides to end her maternity leave and pay early (curtailment) and they choose to opt into the SPL system. Before birth, Rebecca informs her employer that she will return to work after 12 weeks of maternity leave and pay. The remainder of the 52 weeks of leave and 39 weeks of pay becomes available to the couple to share as shared parental leave and pay. They want Jim to take it all, Jim talks to his manager about their plans, and his department start to make arrangements to reorganise work. He gives a notice of entitlement when Rebecca submits her notice to curtail her maternity leave and he gives a notice to book 40 weeks of leave 8 weeks before it is due to start. Summary: Rebecca takes 12 weeks of maternity leave and pay, leaving 40 weeks of SPL and 27 weeks of ShPP. Jim takes 27 weeks of paid and 13 weeks of unpaid SPL. Sue and Simon Sue sells used cars in a franchised outlet and is pregnant with her second child. Her partner, Simon works in a garden centre. Both have been working in their current jobs for several years and both are on good salaries. Their baby is due in May and both Sue and Simon plan to be at home together for those important first weeks after their baby is born. Sue has an occupational maternity scheme which


offers her 80% of her salary for 6 months. She wants to return to work when this ends as she cannot afford to be off longer as they rely on her salary and sales commissions. At 6 weeks before her due date, she gives her employer binding notice to end her maternity leave after 26 weeks and a notice that she is eligible and intends to take SPL. As she is ending her maternity leave after 26 weeks rather than 52 weeks, 26 weeks of untaken maternity leave will become SPL and 13 weeks of untaken SMP will become ShPP. In the same week, Simon gives his employer notice that he is eligible and intends to take SPL. He also books 2 weeks of SPL and ShPP consecutive to his 2 weeks of paternity leave to enable him to be at home with Sue and the new baby and their 6 year old, Alice for a whole month. When Simon takes these two weeks SPL and ShPP this will reduce the balance of SPL to 24 weeks and ShPP to 11 weeks. Over the summer, Sue is preparing to return to work in November and is looking at childcare options for the baby. She had not realised how expensive it was and was unable to obtain a place in her chosen nursery until the New Year. They decide that Simon should take some more SPL and ShPP for November and December and the first week of January (totalling 10 weeks) and look after the child until Christmas and Sue will book the first 2 weeks of January off to settle the child into the nursery (2 weeks). Since Simon will have taken 12 weeks of ShPP only 1 weeks of ShPP remains from the original 13 weeks. So Sue will take 1 week of paid SPL and 1 week of unpaid SPL. At the beginning of September Simon gives his employer 8 weeks’ notice that he will take 10 weeks of SPL and ShPP from the beginning of November until the first week of January. Sue also gives her employer notice that she will take the first 2 weeks of January as SPL and one week of ShPP. Sue has taken 26 weeks of maternity leave in total and they have taken 14 weeks of SPL between them. The remaining 12 weeks of SPL may be taken before the child’s first birthday (in May) if the parents want to, but they have no entitlement to ShPP left. As the remaining leave is unpaid, and the child has settled nicely into the nursery, Sue and Simon decide not to take the balance of the SPL. Gilbert and Henry Gilbert and Henry have been matched for adoption with a 10 year old child, Graham. They had planned that Gilbert would stay at home for a full year with Graham on adoption leave and pay and that Henry would only take 2 weeks’ paternity leave immediately following Graham being placed with the family. It soon became apparent that Graham was much more demanding than Gilbert and Henry had anticipated and Gilbert struggled to cope with him. They decided that it would be best for Graham if both parents were home for a stretch together to take time to bond and establish a stable relationship. Gilbert gave his employer notice to curtail his adoption leave after 40 weeks, releasing 12 weeks for Henry to take as SPL. Gilbert did not curtail his adoption pay as it would have run out anyway after 39 weeks, so there was no ShPP for Henry to take. However, having given his employer 8 weeks of notice, Gilbert and Henry were able to stay at home together for 12 weeks (Gilbert on SAL and Henry on SPL), to give Graham the best opportunity to settle into his new family. Maliha and Reza Maliha is employed as a specialist archivist in a museum. She is cataloguing an extensive collection of fifteenth century Persian scripts that has recently been donated to the museum. She enjoys her work and knows that they will not find a replacement for her and the work will simply stop whilst she is on maternity leave. She wants to spend time with her child, but she is keen not to be absent for an extended time as she is committed to sharing this collection with the community of scholars who are waiting for the material to become available. Maliha takes 12 weeks of maternity leave and then returns to work. She soon realises that she has returned to work too soon and ends her maternity pay to opt into shared parental leave and pay. Her husband, Reza, is a self-employed translator and interpreter who gets regular work on a freelance basis from a language agency. He meets the work and earnings test which enables Maliha to take SPL and ShPP but he is not entitled to SPL or ShPP as he is self-employed. However, he agrees to share the care of the child, but he does not want to give up his work as the agency will send the work elsewhere and he knows he will find it difficult to establish himself again. They agree that each will alternate working with childcare. Maliha gives her employer 8 weeks’ notice that she will take SPL on a week on, week off basis until her child turns a year old. The museum HR department is not best pleased with this arrangement, but it is preferable


to have Maliha working for them for 2 weeks a month and make some progress with the collection than have her take a long continuous absence on SPL. Fatima and Kevin Fatima came to the UK 5 years ago and she has not seen her family in all that time and they have not met her husband, Kevin. When she becomes pregnant with her first child, she feels she needs her mother’s support but her mother is unable to visit her in the UK. She wants to return home for a long period with the new baby but Kevin is anxious about being separated from his wife and child for an extended period. They decide that Fatima will end her maternity leave and pay after 26 weeks and the balance will become available as 26 weeks of SPL and 13 weeks of ShPP for Kevin to take. They decide to all return to Fatima’s home country for the first 6 months of the child’s life to show the baby to its grandparents and for Fatima to learn their traditional ways of looking after a child. Teresa and Paco Teresa is building her reputation as a fashion designer and is reluctant to take time off as it is a crucial stage of her career. Neither Teresa nor Paco want their child to be raised by strangers, so they decide that Paco will take the maximum amount of leave and pay available and he will become the child’s primary carer. Teresa returns to work 2 weeks after giving birth and Paco takes 50 weeks of SPL and 37 weeks of ShPP.


SPL/ShPP example including leave pattern/dates and timeline (continued on next page) Also see Leave pattern examples (text versions) Key

Mother - paid maternity leave (SMP/MA) Partner – SPL and ShPP M is Mother

Mother – SPL and ShPP Partner – unpaid SPL (no ShPP) P is Partner

Mother - unpaid SPL (no ShPP) Partner - Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

At work

Before starting SPL M has taken maternity leave and SMP from 20/07/15 – 27/09/15 (10 weeks) SPL entitlement is 52 weeks minus the 10 weeks maternity leave taken = 42 ShPP entitlement is 39 weeks minus the 10 weeks of SMP taken = 29

Week Starting

20/7 27/7 03/8 10/8 17/8 24/8 31/8 07/9 14/9 21/9 28/9 05/10 12/10 19/10 26/10 02/11 09/11 16/11 23/11 30/11

M

P

20/07- M starts maternity leave

Baby born 14/09

31/07 - M gives notice of entitlement to her employer.

02/08 - M gives booking notice to her employer who agrees the leave pattern.

21/9 – 04/10 P is on paternity leave

16/08 - P gives both the entitlement and booking notices to his employer who agrees the leave pattern

28/09 – M starts SPL/ShPP

12/10 – P starts SPL/ShPP


EXAMPLE CONTINUED Key

Mother - paid maternity leave (SMP/MA) Partner – SPL and paid ShPP M is Mother

Mother – SPL and paid ShPP Partner – unpaid SPL (no ShPP) P is Partner

Mother - unpaid SPL (no ShPP) Partner - Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

At work

Week Starting

07/12 14/12 21/12 28/12 04/1 11/1 18/1 25/1 01/2 08/2 15/2 22/2 29/2 07/3 14/3 21/3 28/3 04/4

M

P

NOTES: The booking notice could be given to the employer at the same time as the entitlement notice. Both the entitlement notice and booking notice must be given to the employer 8 weeks before the date their employee is first absent on SPL.

Both M and P are on SPL/ShPP at the same time

ShPP ends for M (total of 39 weeks used by M and P). She is now on unpaid SPL

ShPP ends for P. He is now on unpaid SPL.

52 weeks of maternity leave and SPL have been used by both M and P.


Shared Parental Leave (SPL) Summary Where an eligible mother (i.e. where M and P meet the requirements for either M or P or both to be entitled to take SPL) curtails her maternity leave before the end of the 52 weeks to which she is entitled, the balance of untaken maternity leave may be taken by M or P or both as shared parental leave. That same arrangement applies to an eligible adopter who curtails his or her adoption leave before the 52 weeks’ entitlement. All SPL must be taken before the child’s first birthday or the first anniversary of the date of placement in adoption cases. Since M cannot curtail her maternity leave and/or SMP or MA within 2 weeks of the birth (or within 4 weeks of the birth for a factory worker), the maximum amount of SPL available is 50 weeks (except in some circumstances involving the death of M – see Death of the mother/adopter. An adopter cannot curtail his or her adoption leave within 2 weeks of starting adoption leave, so the maximum SPL available to an adopter is also 50 weeks. The curtailment date is the date on which M or A ends her maternity or adoption leave/pay i.e. the last day of maternity or adoption leave/pay. For example if M’s notice says her mat leave/pay will end on 30 June, it ends that day and entitlement to SPL/ShPP arises from 1 July. See Curtailment_Date for more information when SMP/MA/SAP is payable. In order to give rise to SPL, a mother or adopter has to curtail her maternity leave before the full 52 weeks is taken. Leave can be curtailed in one of 2 ways:

By a mother or adopter returning to work, which ends maternity or adoption leave irrevocably

By giving notice to curtail her maternity or adoption leave at a future date (this date must be at least 8 weeks after giving the notice and, where notice is given before maternity or adoption leave has started, could be as long as 58 weeks after giving notice if M gives notice 8 weeks before C is born or A is placed for adoption).

Where M or A has returned to work, she and/or P can “opt in” to SPL by giving their respective employers a notice of entitlement to SPL. This must be given at least 8 weeks before any period of SPL is to be taken by the employee. Where M or A has given notice to end her maternity or adoption leave at a specific future date, this curtailment notice becomes binding when either M or P has submitted a notice of entitlement to take SPL. If only P submits an entitlement notice, then M or A must provide her employer with a declaration that P has submitted notice of entitlement to P’s employer, so that M or A’s employer knows that her maternity or adoption leave curtailment notice is binding. If M or A has more than one employer, then she needs to submit curtailment and entitlement notices, or a declaration that P has submitted an entitlement notice to SPL, to each employer at the same time. M and P can qualify for SPL (and ShPP) in more than 1 job if the eligibility conditions are met in each job. A surrogate mother (the woman who has given birth to a child for other parents) is entitled to maternity leave and pay but not shared parental leave and pay, as she is not caring for the child. Agency workers can qualify for ShPP but do not qualify for SPL, in the same way that they can qualify for SMP/SPP/ SAP but not maternity leave/paternity leave/adoption leave.


Detail Binding nature of a curtailment notice Where M or A has returned to work, there is no question of her returning to maternity or adoption leave as maternity/adoption leave is ended irrevocably on return to work and cannot be restarted. Where M or A gives her usual 8 weeks’ notice to return to work early from her 52 weeks of maternity or adoption leave it is not binding when not accompanied by a notice by M or P to take SPL. If M gives notice and does not turn up at work on the day, she remains on maternity leave, or adoption leave as the case may be). However, where M or A has given notice to curtail her maternity or adoption leave, AND M and/or P has submitted a notice of entitlement to SPL, then M’s or A’s curtailment notice is binding (in that the maternity or adoption leave ends on the date specified, whether the mother returns to work or not), EXCEPT in the following circumstances where M or A may revoke the curtailment notice if the date of curtailment has not passed (and she had not returned to work in advance of the curtailment date):

(a) Neither M nor P is entitled to either shared parental leave or ShPP.

Where it is discovered in the 8 weeks following submission of the curtailment notice that neither M nor P is entitled to either SPL or SHPP, then M may revoke the notice

(b) P dies.

In the event of the death of P, M or A can revoke her curtailment notice within a reasonable time (the term ’reasonable’ is not defined in the regs).

In the event of revocation in the circumstances above, M (or A) and P have no entitlement to opt into the shared parental system at a subsequent date. In addition, for birth mothers only:

(c) M served her leave curtailment notice before the birth of C

Where M has given her notice to end maternity leave in advance of the birth, she has until the end of the 6th week following the birth to revoke the notice

In the event of the six week revocation, M and P may opt into the shared parental system at a later date. Where a mother/adopter revokes her notice to curtail maternity/adoption leave, the maternity or adoption leave period reverts to 52 weeks and the MPP or MAP reverts to 39 weeks. In the event of revocation in (b) or (c) the total amount of maternity or adoption leave and SPL combined can exceed 52 weeks and the total amount of SMP/MA/SAP and ShPP combined can exceed 39 weeks. In the case of (a), neither M (or A) nor P will have taken any SPL as the notice period for curtailment and entitlement has not passed. Neither M (or A) nor P can subsequently opt into SPL as they have no entitlement. In the case of (c), it is possible that P would have started taking SPL from the birth of the child whilst M was still on maternity leave. If P was entitled to SPL, P would also have qualified for paternity leave. It is possible that P would have consumed up to 6 weeks of SPL (but more likely 4) in the period between birth and revocation. In the event of revocation in the 6 week period, P would have been entitled to SPL in the period from the birth. M is entitled to curtail her maternity leave again and M and P are entitled to opt in again to SPL. In that case, any SPL taken prior to revocation must be deducted from the joint entitlement to SPL in respect of the child.


Example of point (c) above:

Week 1 C’s DOB at start of week1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

M M is on maternity leave. She had originally given binding notice to end maternity leave and commence SPL at the beginning of week 8 but changed her mind and revoked this notice at the start of week 6.

Notice to end maternity leave in week 8 is revoked. Maternity leave continues.

P Paternity leave P starts SPL in week 3 M’s revocation notice was submitted at the start of week 6 so SPL has to stop at that time.

Comment M revoked her notice to end maternity leave and opt into SPL with her partner but the couple can still opt back into SPL arrangements at a later date if they wish. If they do opt back into SPL again at a later date the SPL/ShPP used in weeks 3, 4 and 5 by P should be deducted from their entitlement. The end of week 6 is the latest date M can revoke her notice to end maternity leave. An employee must be on SPL to get ShPP (unless they are an agency worker). Agency workers can qualify for ShPP but not SPL.

In the case of (b), M or A may revoke her curtailment notice. Regardless of the number of weeks of SPL and ShPP that P has taken before he died, her maternity (or adoption) leave and SMP or MA or SAP, reverts to 52 weeks and 39 weeks. The revocation notice must be served on or before the leave curtailment date. If M or A has given notice that her maternity or adoption leave ends on 12 July she must serve the revocation notice on or before 12 July. If P dies after 12 July she cannot revoke her curtailment notice. If P dies on 8 July, M has until 12 July to revoke the notice. M or A will be unable to opt into SPL and ShPP at a later date with a new partner as one of the eligibility criteria is that M or A and P have to have joint responsibility for caring for the child at the date of C’s birth or the date of an adopted child’s placement with adoptive parents.. A curtailment notice ceases to have effect on the day that M or A gives a written revocation notice to her employer. In the event of the six week revocation for a birth mother (this does not apply to adopters), P’s entitlement to SPL and ShPP ceases on the day the revocation is submitted and P is no longer entitled to SPL or ShPP. Where P has booked leave to start within 8 weeks, or where P is already on SPL, and the employer cannot accommodate P’s immediate return to work the employer may require P to be absent on SPL as planned in the period up to the sooner of the date the leave was booked to end or 8 weeks after P notified the employer that eligibility to SPL had ceased. Any SPL that P has taken, or that the employer requires to be taken, must be deducted from any subsequent entitlement to SPL should M and/or P opt into SPL at a later date. Entitlement to ShPP ceases with immediate effect from the date of revocation when P’s entitlement ceases. ShPP that has been paid when P was entitled may be reclaimed from the Exchequer in the usual way.


Entitlement

An employee (which must be M/A or P) is entitled to be absent from work to take shared parental leave to care for C if the employee satisfies the conditions specified in paragraph (1) and the Other Parent satisfies the conditions specified in paragraph (2).

1) In relation to the employee (E)

E satisfies the continuity of employment test. An employee satisfies the continuity of employment test if the employee—

(I) has been continuously employed with an employer for a period of not less than 26 weeks ending with the QW; and

(ii) remains in continuous employment with that employer until the week before any period of shared parental leave taken by the employee.

The QW In this regulation—

(a) In the case of birth, the week immediately preceding the 14th week before the expected week of birth;

(b) In the case of adoption, the week in which A was notified of having been matched for adoption with C;

(c) In the case of fostering for adoption, the week the prospective adopter is notified of the placement;

(d) In the case of surrogacy, the week immediately preceding the 14th week before the expected week of birth.

Where C is born earlier than the QW and an employee would have satisfied the condition above for birth if the employee’s employment had continued until the end of the week immediately preceding that week, the employee must be treated as having satisfied that condition.

E has, at the date of C’s birth, or the placement of a child for adoption, the main responsibility for the care of C (apart from the responsibility of the Other Parent);

M is entitled to statutory maternity leave (or A is entitled to adoption leave) in respect of C;

M or A has curtailed her statutory maternity leave (or adoption leave) and that leave notice has not been revoked but remains curtailed) or returned to work;

E has complied with the requirements to notify his or her employer of entitlement to shared parental leave, including a signed declaration from both E and P (see below);

E has complied with the requirement to provide evidence as requested by the employer (see below) and

E has given a period of leave notice (see below). 2) In relation to the Other Parent

The Other Parent satisfies the employment and earnings test to have been engaged in employment as an employed or self-employed earner in GB [pending Northern Ireland regulations coming into effect] for any part of the week in the case of at least 26 of the 66 weeks immediately preceding the expected week of birth; and has average weekly earnings of not less than the amount set out in section 35(6A) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 Act (which is currently £30) in relation to the tax year preceding the tax year containing the expected week of birth.

The Other Parent has, at the date of C’s birth or placement for adoption, the main responsibility for the care of C (apart from the responsibility of the employee)


The other parent will provide a declaration saying that they meet the requirements above and consent to E taking SPL. The employer is not required to check this information (see notice requirements below).

It is possible for the partner's employment/earnings test to be satisfied without that partner having paid NI contributions on those earnings. The requirement is that the person be an employed earner. Under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act an employed earner is someone whose earnings attract liability for Class 1 NI contributions, or would if they were high enough (and are chargeable to tax under PAYE). The £30 average earnings threshold is a lot lower than the NI lower earnings limit.

A self-employed parent can never qualify for SPL or ShPP. But they may meet the employment and earnings test required of the other parent which enables the employed parent to qualify for leave and/or pay; or an agency worker to qualify for ShPP.

Calculating how much SPL is available?

Only an employee is entitled to SPL. If M (or A) and P are both employed and each satisfies the continuity of employment condition (and the Other Parent satisfies the Employment and Earnings criteria), then both M (or A) and P have a joint entitlement to the SPL and they will need to decide how to divide the entitlement between them. Each employee will notify their own employer of their allocation.

The number of weeks of SPL available to M (or A) or P or M (or A) and P jointly is calculated as 52 weeks less:

The number of weeks of maternity/adoption leave taken before curtailment/return to work;

Where M or A has no entitlement to maternity or adoption leave, the number of weeks of SMP or MA (or SAP) that M (or A) took before curtailment;

In the event of a previous six week revocation in a birth case, the number of weeks of SPL taken by P before revocation or number of weeks (up to 8) required by the employer following revocation.

Re: 3rd bullet point above: The partner’s employer may require him to be absent on the shared parental leave he (or she) has booked for up to 8 weeks from the date on which the employer is informed of the revocation if that revocation happens either:

• while the partner is on shared parental leave, or • within 8 weeks of a booked period of shared parental leave being due to start.

This is to enable the employer to have 8 weeks to stand down the cover arrangements that it might have put in place in anticipation of the employee’s absence on shared parental leave. This period of absence is subject to negotiation so the employer may agree a shorter period of notice before the employee’s return to work. If the employer requires the employee to be absent, the absence is treated as shared parental leave (even though there is no entitlement).

The notice requirements

There are 2 types of notices. Firstly an eligible employee is required to notify their employer of their entitlement to, and intention to take, SPL. In addition, an employee will need to give a notice to his or her employer of a specific period of absence, effectively a “booking” notification.

Model forms will be provided in due course, setting out the information and evidence that must be included in a notification. The forms are not statutory forms but guidance will recommend that employees use the forms to communicate with their respective employers to ensure that the correct and complete information is given without delay.

Notifying eligibility and intention to take SPL


When the employee is the mother or the adopter

If M or A is the employee, her eligibility for SPL requires that M or A must, not less than eight weeks before the start date of the first period of shared parental leave to be taken by M or A, give her employer a written notice which contains the information and declarations specified as follows.

The specified information is—

a. M’s (or A’s) name;

b. P’s name;

c. the start and end dates of any statutory maternity leave taken or to be taken by M (or statutory adoption leave taken by A);

d. the total amount of shared parental leave available );

e. either in the case of birth: C’s expected week of birth and C’s date of birth (where a notice is given before C is born and C is born less than 8 weeks before the start date of the first period of shared parental leave, M must give C’s date of birth to her employer as soon as reasonably practicable before the first period of share parental leave);

or in the case of adoption: the date that A was notified of having been matched with C and the date of C’s placement for adoption;

f. how much shared parental leave M (or A) and P each intend to take;

g. a non-binding indication as to when M (or A) intends to take shared parental leave (including the start and end dates for each period of leave).

The specified declarations are—

(a) a declaration from M (or A) that—

(b) M (or A) satisfies, or will satisfy, the conditions set out above in the section on entitlement, including sharing, at the date of the birth (or the date C was placed for adoption), the responsibility for of the care of C with P; the continuity of employment test; entitlement to statutory maternity leave (or statutory adoption leave) in respect of C; that she has curtailed her statutory maternity leave (or statutory adoption leave) or returned to work; has complied with the notice requirements and evidence required by an employer).

(c) the information given by M (or A) in the notice is accurate;

(d) M (or A) will immediately inform her employer if she ceases to meet the eligibility conditions;

(e) a declaration from P—

(i) specifying P’s name, address, and national insurance number (or a declaration that P does not have a national insurance number);

(ii) that P satisfies, or will satisfy, the employment and earnings test; and that P has, at the date of C’s birth (or placement for adoption), the main responsibility for the care of C (apart from the responsibility of M or A).

(iii) that P is the father of C (in the case of birth only), or the person who is married to, or the civil partner or the partner of, M (or A);

(iv) that P consents to the amount of leave which M (or A) intends to take (as set out in the notice);

(v) that P consents to M’s (or A’s) employer processing the information in P’s declaration.

Where the father or partner is the employee

If P is the employee, P’s eligibility for SPL requires that P must, not less than eight weeks before the start date of the first period of shared parental leave to be taken by P, give P’s employer a written notice which contains the information and declarations specified as follows.


The specified information is—

(a) P’s name;

(b) M’s (or A’s) name;

(c) the start and end dates of any—

(i) statutory maternity leave taken or to be taken by M (or statutory adoption leave by taken by A);

(ii) statutory maternity pay (or statutory adoption pay) received or to be received by M (or A) (where statutory maternity leave – or statutory adoption leave - was not taken or is not be taken in relation to that period); or

(iii) maternity allowance received or to be received by M (where statutory maternity leave was not taken or is not be taken in relation to that period);

(d) the total amount of shared parental leave available;

(e) C’s expected week of birth and C’s date of birth (where a notice is given before C is born and C is born less than 8 weeks before the start date of the first period of shared parental leave, P must give C’s date of birth to P’s employer as soon as reasonably practicable before the first period of share parental leave) or the date that A was notified of having been matched with C and the date of C’s placement;

(f) how much shared parental leave P and M (or A) each intend to take;

(g) a non-binding indication as to when P intends to take shared parental leave (including the start and end dates for each period of leave).

The specified declarations are—

(h) a declaration from P that—

(i) P satisfies, or will satisfy, the conditions in regulation 5(2) (the continuity of employment test; at the date of C’s birth (or placement), had the main responsibility for the care of C (apart from the responsibility of M or A); has complied with notice requirements to employer and any further information required by employer)

(i) the information given by P in the notice is accurate;

(ii) that P is the father of C (in respect of birth only), or the person who is married to, or the civil partner or the partner of, M (or A);

(iii) P will immediately inform P’s employer if P ceases to meet the condition in regulation 5(2)(b) or if M (or A) informs P that she has uncurtailed her leave or MPP or MAP or SAP.

(j) a declaration from M (or A)—

(i) specifying M’s (or A’s) name, address, and national insurance number (or a declaration that M (or A) does not have a national insurance number);

(ii) that M (or A) satisfies, or will satisfy, the entitlement conditions (the employment and earnings test; had, at the date of C’s birth (or placement), the main responsibility for the care of C (apart from the responsibility of P); s entitled to statutory maternity leave (or statutory adoption leave), statutory maternity pay (or statutory adoption pay), or maternity allowance in respect of C; and has curtailed that leave and pay/allowance).

(iii) that M (or A) consents to the amount of leave which P intends to take that M (or A) will immediately inform P if she ceases to satisfy the condition that she has curtailed her maternity (or adoption) leave or SMP (or SAP) - or MA if she is not entitled to maternity (or adoption) leave); that M (or A) consents to P’s employer processing the information in M’s (or A’s) declaration.

Checks required by the employer


Whilst there is no obligation on the employer to do so, it is expected that the employer will check that their employee does in fact meet the continuity of employment test (the 26 week employment rule) and the average weekly earnings requirement (for ShPP). Note that to qualify for SPL and ShPP there is also an additional requirement that they are still working for their employer into the week (Sun to Sat) before SPL/ShPP is due to start.

The employer does not make any checks in relation to the other parent. The information on their declaration is taken on trust.

Supplementary evidence requirements

Following submission of a notice, an employer has a statutory right to request certain additional evidence and the employee is required to provide it, in order to be entitled to SPL.

Specifically, where M (or A) or P notifies their respective employers of entitlement to SPL, the employer may request within 14 days:

(in the case of birth) a copy of C’s birth certificate; or

(in the case of adoption) evidence in the form of one or more documents issued by the adoption agency that matched A with C; and

the name and address of the Other Parent’s employer.

In this situation, the employee (either M or P as the case may be) has 14 days to provide

(in the case of birth) a copy of C’s birth certificate, where one has been issued, or if the birth certificate has yet to be issued, a declaration signed by M or P, as the case may be, which states the date and location of C’s birth;

(in the case of adoption) one or more documents from the adoption agency; and

the name and address requested, or

a declaration that M or P, as the case may be, has no employer.

Notice to book leave

An employee who has notified entitlement to SPL must also give notice to “book” leave at least 8 weeks before the first leave is due to start. A single booking notice must specify a minimum of 1 week and may specify more weeks in a single continuous block or discontinuous blocks of leave. An employee has a statutory right to take the number of weeks of leave in the booking notice (so long as he or she has notified entitlement) in a single continuous block. If a single notice includes discontinuous weeks, an employer can reject this and require all the weeks of leave to be taken in a single block.

A notice to book leave may be submitted at the same time as entitlement to SPL is notified; or may be submitted later (it is likely that SPL would be booked at the same time when P submits the entitlement notice, but is less likely to be booked at the same time when M or A submits the entitlement notice as she may have many months of maternity or adoption leave left before she will be talking any SPL).

There is a statutory cap of 3 notices to book SPL, but this maximum number can be disregarded at the discretion of the employer. A statutory right to a 4th notice is granted in the event of the death of the Other Parent and any remaining SPL defaulting to the surviving parent where he or she has already exhausted his or her entitlement to 3 notices to book leave.

The 8 weeks’ notice to book leave does not apply in certain circumstances. See


Change of notice conditions in the case of an early birth

Death of the mother/adopter The period of entitlement to leave will provide one start and end date of SPL/ShPP which applies to the both M and P and to A and P. The period of SPL may not start before the birth of C (or the placement for adoption) and runs for a calendar year. It must be completed before C’s first birthday or the first anniversary of the placement of an adopted C. But within those dates flexibility is allowed as to when leave is taken so parents can choose a pattern of leave that suits their domestic arrangements. So for example:-

The first period of SPL does not have to follow on immediately after the end of maternity or adoption leave/pay.

Either partner could start their SPL first so one is at work while the other is on leave

They could decide to start SPL at the same time.

The partner could take SPL/ShPP whilst the mother (or adopter) is still on maternity (or adoption) leave/pay if the mother (or adopter) has given binding notice to end her maternity (or adoption) leave in the future.

M (or A) and P can qualify for SPL/ShPP in two or more jobs if the qualifying conditions are met in those jobs. A surrogate mother (the woman who has given birth to a child for other parents) is entitled to maternity leave and pay but not shared parental leave and pay, as she is not caring for the child. Agency workers can qualify for ShPP but do not qualify for SPL, in the same way that they can qualify for SMP or SPP or SAP but not maternity leave or paternity leave. The Patterns of leave section later in this document has various examples of leave and pay for both parents. Application of terms and conditions during shared parental leave

An employee who takes shared parental leave is, during any period of leave—

entitled to the benefit of all of the terms and conditions of employment which would have applied if the employee had not been absent, except for remuneration, and

bound by any obligations arising under those terms and conditions, subject only to the exception of the need to attend work.

Contractual rights to shared parental leave

Where an employee is entitled to statutory shared parental leave and also to a similar right under the employee’s contract of employment, the employee may not exercise the statutory right and the corresponding right separately, i.e. cannot take occupational SPL and then have a right to statutory SPL. Service of notices

An employee may submit a notice to take SPL, it must be in writing and it may be given—

By electronic communication, where the employer has agreed. Date of giving is the day of transmission.

By post. It is given on date of posting.

By personal delivery. It is given on date of delivery.


Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) Summary 1) To receive Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) the employee must also be on Shared Parental Leave (SPL) if he or she is entitled to it (NOTE: only an agency worker can qualify for the pay but not the leave). If an employee qualifies for ShPP, he or she will also qualify for SPL. On the other hand, an employee may qualify for SPL and not ShPP; or may qualify for SPL and ShPP but may not be receiving ShPP, or may not be receiving ShPP for all the weeks of SPL, depending on the allocation of weeks in the leave pattern. See Patterns of leave 2) The amount of ShPP available will normally be equivalent to the amount of untaken SMP or MA at the end of the pay week in which M returns to work (without curtailing her maternity pay or allowance period) or, where she has given notice to curtail her maternity pay or adoption period, on the date of curtailment. up to a maximum of 37 weeks (except in the circumstances where the M dies having taken fewer than 2 weeks of maternity leave or, in the case of an agency worker or a self-employed mother, under 2 weeks of SMP or MA). NOTE: Returning to work curtails M’s maternity leave (or A’s adoption leave) but her MPP or APP is only curtailed when she notifies her employer that it has ended. In most cases M (or A) will probably notify the end of maternity (or adoption) leave and pay at the same time – the draft model form at Shared Parental Leave and Pay forms includes questions about when M or A wants the leave and pay to end. If M (or A) does not curtail her MPP (or APP) it will continue for 39 weeks even if she is at work. This means that, for example SMP would be payable instead of SSP if she was absent on sick leave during the MPP. Unlike the MPP, there is no disqualification from SSP during the APP. So if a person is in receipt of SAP and is sick, they must be paid SSP and not SAP. The curtailment date of the MPP or AAP is the last day of the pay week in which M (or A) ends her SMP/MA (or SAP). If M’s (or A’s) notice says her SMP/MA (or SAP) will end on 30 June, it ends on the last day of the pay week in which 30 June falls. Entitlement to SPL/ShPP arises from the first day following the end of the SMP or SAP pay week. If the curtailment date is in the middle of an SMP/MA week then the last day for payment of SMP/MA would be the end of the SMP/MA week in which the curtailment date occurs. 3) If both parents wish to take SPL and ShPP, each employed parent will need to meet the qualifying requirements in their own right (with the other parent required to make a declaration that he or she meets the employment and earnings test). See Notifying eligibility and intention to take SPL A self-employed parent can never qualify for SPL or ShPP. But they may meet the employment and earnings test required of the “other parent” which enables the employed parent to qualify for leave and/or pay; or an agency worker to qualify for ShPP. 4) Whilst there is no obligation on the employer to do so, it is expected that the employer will check that their employee does in fact meet the continuity of employment test (the 26 week employment rule) and the average weekly earnings requirement (for ShPP). Note that to qualify for SPL and ShPP there is also an additional requirement that they are still working for their employer into the week (Sun to Sat) before SPL/ShPP is due to start. 5) The employer is not required to check any information given on the relevant forms relating to their employee’s partner. The other parent is required to sign a declaration confirming that he or she meets the employment and earnings test and consenting to the employee taking ShPP. The information given is taken on trust. 6) ShPP is paid at either the standard weekly rate (which will be the same as SMP, SAP, SPP), or 90% of the AWE, whichever is lower.


The AWE calculation is the same as the calculation for SMP and SPP. Therefore M and P will meet the AWE earnings requirement if they qualified SMP and SPP respectively. Any later pay increases that are backdated to the relevant 8 week period in which AWE are calculated MUST be taken into account. Any pay increases that take effect after the 8 week calculation period are not taken into account. Unlike SMP (and SAP from 5th April 2015) there is no enhanced earnings rate of ShPP payable for the first 6 weeks of ShPP, even if SMP was curtailed before the full SMP 6 week enhancement had been taken. 7) Entitlement is based on the episode of pregnancy/birth or adoption, irrespective of whether one of more children are born or adopted. In the event of a multiple birth (or an adoption involving 2 or more children), the date the first child is born (or placed for adoption) is used to determine the actual week of birth or the date of placement for adoption.

8) If an employee meets the duration of employment conditions but their AWE are below the LEL in force at the QW, they can qualify for SPL but not ShPP. 9) If P is the father of a number of children who are born around the same time to different mothers and P has main responsibility for the care of each child along with the mothers, then P could be entitled to multiple payments of ShPP for each child. Detail Entitlement to ShPP (birth)

- The parent (either M or P) is entitled to ShPP if he or she satisfies the following conditions:

- Continuity of employment and normal weekly earnings.

This means the following: that the parent has been in employed earner’s employment with an employer for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with the relevant week; that the parent’s normal weekly earnings (see regulation 22) for the period of eight weeks ending with the relevant week are not less than the lower earnings limit in force at the end of the relevant week; and that the parent continues in employed earner’s employment with the same employer until the week before the first week on which ShPP is payable for absence (on SPL if entitled) having been correctly notified. Special arrangements are in place for early births. See note for early births below.

The calculation method for normal weekly earnings (also known as average weekly earnings) mirrors the process used for SMP/SPP. If the employee was entitled to SMP/SPP they would meet the continuity of employment and normal weekly earnings requirements for ShPP (but note the additional requirement to be employed by the same employer in the week (Sun-Sat) before the first payment of ShPP becomes payable).

- had, at the date of C’s birth, the main responsibility for the care of C apart from the responsibility of the other parent;

- has complied with the notification and evidential requirements (see below);

- if the claimant is M, that she is entitled to statutory maternity pay in respect of C’s birth and that her maternity pay period has been reduced (curtailed);

- if the claimant is P, that M is entitled by to statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance in respect of C’s birth and that the maternity pay period or the maternity allowance period is, and continues to be, reduced (curtailed);

- that it is his or her intention to care for C during each week in respect of which ShPP is paid to him or her;

- that he or she is absent from work during each week in which ShPP is paid to him or her (except in certain cases, specifically: where he or she works other than for an employer; or for an


employer for whom the parent worked before the qualifying week but who is not liable to pay ShPP; or where work is done under a contract of employment on one or more of the 20 days of SPLIT days);

- where the parent is an employee (within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996) that he or she is absent from work on SPL in respect of C.

AND that the other parent:

- has at the date of C’s birth the main responsibility for the care of C (apart from the responsibility of the parent); and

- satisfies the employment and earnings test

- has made a declaration confirming eligibility and consent

The other parent provides this information to the employer on a declaration. So M would provide a declaration for P’s employer and vice versa.

Note for early births: Where C’s birth occurs earlier than the 14th week before C’s expected week of birth, then the continuity of employment conditions are satisfied if the parent (or intended parent in surrogacy arrangements) would have been in employer earner’s employment for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with the QW had C been born after the QW; the normal weekly earnings are calculated in the period of eight weeks ending with the week immediately preceding C’s actual week of birth are not less than the lower earnings limit in force immediately before the commencement of C’s actual week of birth; and the person is required to continue to be in employed earner’s employment with the employer for a continuous period beginning with the date of C’s birth and ending with the week before the first week of ShPP that is correctly notified. Entitlement to ShPP (adoption)

- The adoptive parent is entitled to ShPP if he or she satisfies the following conditions:

- Continuity of employment and normal weekly earnings.

This means the following: that the adoptive parent has been in employed earner’s employment with an employer for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with the relevant week; that the adoptive parent’s normal weekly earnings for the period of eight weeks ending with the relevant week are not less than the lower earnings limit in force at the end of the relevant week; and that the adoptive parent continues in employed earner’s employment with the same employer until the week before the first week on which ShPP is payable for absence (on SPL if entitled) having been correctly notified.

- had, at the date of C’s placement, the main responsibility for the care of C apart from the responsibility of the other parent;

- has complied with the notification and evidential requirements (see below);

- if the claimant is the adopter, that she/he is entitled to statutory adoption pay in respect of C’s placement and that his/her adoption pay period has been reduced (curtailed);

- if the claimant is the adopter’s partner, that A is entitled by to statutory adoption pay in respect of C’s birth and that the adoption pay period is, and continues to be, reduced (curtailed);

- that it is his or her intention to care for C during each week in respect of which ShPP is paid to him or her;

- that he or she is absent from work during each week in which ShPP is paid to him or her (except in certain cases, specifically: where he or she works other than for an employer; or for an employer for whom the parent worked before the qualifying week but who is not liable to pay ShPP; or where work is done under a contract of employment on one or more of the 20 days of SPLIT days). ));

- where the parent is an employee (within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996) that he or she is absent from work on SPL in respect of C.


AND that the other adoptive parent:

- has at the date of C’s birth the main responsibility for the care of C (apart from the responsibility of the other parent); and

- satisfies the employment and earnings test

- has made a declaration confirming eligibility and consent Notification arrangements for ShPP The claimant parent must submit a written notice (Appendix 1) least 8 weeks before any ShPP is paid including:

the number of weeks of ShPP that is available in total to the claimant parent and the other parent in respect of C

the number of weeks of ShPP out of the total available that the claimant parent intends to claim ShPP;

the number of weeks of ShPP out of total available that the other parent intends to claim;

the period or periods during which the claimant parent intends to claim ShPP;

a signed declaration from the other parent (who is required to satisfy the employment and earnings criteria)them stating the following in relation to the other parent—

o that he or she consents to the claimant parent’s intended claim for ShPP o that he or she satisfies the requirements that at the time of the birth (or the placement

for adoption) he or she had the main responsibility for C (along with the claimant parent) and that he or she satisfies the employment and earnings requirements

o his or her name, address and national insurance number (or, if he or she has no national insurance number, stating that he or she has no such number); and

o consent for the claimant parent’s employer (who will be liable to pay ShPP to the claimant parent) to process the information provided in the written declaration;

o (if the other parent is M or A, the date on which M’s MPP or MAP (or A’s APP) in respect of C began and the number of weeks by which it will be reduced);

C’s expected week of birth, (or the date on which A was notified of matching);

C’s date of birth (or placement for adoption), (where this has not happened when the notice is given, the claimant parent should submit this information as soon as reasonably practicable after the birth/placement);

The claimant parent’s name;

a written declaration signed by the claimant parent— o that the information given by him or her is correct; o that he or she satisfies the entitlement criteria for ShPP pertaining to the claimant

parent; o that he or she will immediately inform the employer if there is any change to the

reduction (curtailment of the MPP or MAP or SAP) (e.g. if M were to revoke her notice to curtail at the 6th week following birth);

o (if the claimant parent is M or A, the date on which M’s MPP or MAP or A’s APP in respect of C began and the number of weeks by which it will be reduced).

In addition, should the claimant parent’s employer (who is liable to pay ShPP) request within 14 days of receiving the claimant parent’s notice of entitlement to ShPP, the claimant parent will provide within 14 days of the request:

o a copy of C’s birth certificate or, if one has not been issued, a declaration signed by the claimant parent which states that it has not been issued;

o in adoption cases, evidence in the form of one or more documents issued by the adoption agency which contain:

the name and address of the adoption agency, the date on which A was matched with C, the date on which the agency expects C will be placed with A and


o the name and address of the other parent’s employer or, if the other parent has no employer, a written declaration signed by the claimant parent that the other parent has no employer.

Variation of number of weeks of pay to be claimed and of periods when pay is to be claimed

An employee may notify the employer (who is responsible for paying the ShPP) of a change in a previous notification on ShPP. By giving the employer 8 weeks’ notice, an employee may increase or decrease the number of weeks of ShPP allocated to him or her, so long as the notice is accompanied by a declaration from the other parent that he or she consent’s to the variation notified by the employee.

Calculating the number of weeks entitlement to ShPP

The total number of weeks of ShPP to which each parent (or adopter) is entitled is 39 weeks less:

Either:

The number of weeks in which maternity allowance or statutory maternity pay is payable to M in respect of C (or SAP is payable to A) up to the time M (or A) has returned to work (where M has not reduced her MPP or MAP prior to returning to work or A has not reduced his or her APP); or

The number of weeks to which the MPP or MAP or APP is reduced, where M or A has curtailed/reduced it; and

the number of weeks of statutory shared parental pay which the other parent has notified his or her employer of his or her intention to claim (with any variation) and to which the parent has consented;

where P was entitled to ShPP arising from a notice to curtail maternity leave and MPP or MAP being submitted prior to birth and subsequently being revoked within 6 weeks of the birth, the number of weeks for which P claimed ShPP whilst entitled and prior to entitlement ceasing (this does not apply in respect of adoption as there is no option to revoke notice at 6 weeks). See Example A) ShPP paid to partner before a valid revocation is submitted.

Part of a week in which statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance or statutory adoption pay is payable is treated as a whole week for the purpose of calculating the amount of ShPP available.

NB: There are some circumstances in which the total number of weeks of SMP/MA or SAP and ShPP combined paid to M or A and P would exceed 39 weeks. Where M or A returned to work without curtailing/reducing her MPP or MAP or APP and further payments of SMP or MA or SAP were made for subsequent absence from work during the MPP or MAP or APP (e.g. due to sick leave) before the mother/adopter ended her MPP, MAP or APP, or where a mother revokes curtailment of MPP, MAP or APP due to the death of the partner, the total weeks of payment of SMP/MA or SAP and ShPP in respect of the child may be greater than 39 weeks.

This is because, where a mother or adopter returns to work without curtailing/reducing the MPP or MAP or APP, the number of weeks of “untaken” SMP or MA or SAP are set in stone at the point of returning to work, should the mother or adopter subsequently decide to reduce the MPP or MAP or APP and opt into SPL and ShPP. However, since the additional weeks of SMP or MA or SAP are disregarded, they are not included in the calculation of entitlement of ShPP. Hence the total number of weeks of entitlement to ShPP available to the couple, when taken with SMP or MA or SAP paid before the mother returns to work, will not exceed 39 weeks. There is an example of this on page 39. See Example: The number of unused SMP weeks available for ShPP is set at the point the mother returns to duty from maternity leave.


Where a mother or adopter revokes curtailment of maternity/adoption leave and pay or allowance because her partner has died, her MAP or MPP reverts to 39 continuous weeks from the date it started, regardless of any weeks of ShPP her partner may have taken. Period of payment of statutory shared parental pay

SPL and ShPP cannot start before the birth of the child or the placement of a child for adoption.

Where an eligible parent is entitled to ShPP then it is payable to M or A or P in respect of each week—

falling within a period specified in the notice of entitlement and “booking” notice, so long as there has been no variation to that notice;

up to the number of weeks specified in the notice as available and allocated to the person.

ShPP is payable for a calendar year from birth. ShPP is not payable after the child’s first birthday or the first anniversary of the placement of a child for adoption (or where more than one child is born as a result of the same pregnancy the date of the first child born; or where more than one child is placed for adoption the date that the first child is placed).

ShPP is not payable to M before the end of M’s maternity pay period or to A before the end of A’s adoption pay period.

Any SPL or ShPP untaken on the child’s first birthday or the first anniversary of the placement of the child for adoption is lost.

Work during period of payment of ShPP

ShPP is only payable in a week where a person is absent from work, except in the following circumstances:

in respect of a statutory pay week during any part of which the eligible parent works only for an employer—

(i) who is not liable to pay that person ShPP; and (ii) for whom that person worked in the QW or the week the person was notified of being

matched with a child; or,

where the eligible parent works under a contract of service with the employer who is liable to pay that person ShPP and they have not used more than 20 SPLIT days (Shared Parental Leave In Touch Days).

Example 1

M has two jobs with two separate employers (Employment 1 and Employment 2)

M was employed by both employers during the QW.

M qualifies for maternity leave with both employers.

M qualifies for SMP and in Employment 1.

M does NOT qualify for SMP in Employment 2 (for example the average weekly earnings are below the LEL and there are not 26 weeks of continuous employment in Employment 2)

M qualifies for SPL and ShPP in Employment 1 but not Employment 2.


M is absent from work on SPL in Employment 1 and is paid ShPP, but she continues to work in Employment 2. Work in Employment 2 does not affect her entitlement/payment of ShPP in Employment 1.

Example 2

If the circumstances are identical to Example 1 except that M did not work for Employer 2 in the QW (Employment 2 is a new employment starting after the QW), then entitlement to ShPP in Employment 1 stops on the last day of the ShPP week before M started to work for Employer 2.

Example 3

M has two jobs with the same employer that started in or before the QW.

If all the employee’s earnings have to be added together to work out Class 1 NICs then they also have to be added together to work out the employee’s AWE, and the employee can only get one lot of ShPP.

If Class 1 NICs are worked out separately on the employee’s earnings, then you must work out their AWE separately, and the employee can get more than one lot of SMP and ShPP, to check whether their earnings were high enough in each employment.

Example 4

If M has two jobs with the same employer but Employment 2 started after the QW then M can only qualify for ShPP in Employment 1

Care of child during period of payment of statutory shared parental pay

ShPP is not payable in respect of a week where it is not the person’s intention at the beginning of the week to care for C (except in certain cases following the Death of the child or breakdown in adoption) Cases where there is no liability to pay statutory shared parental pay

Where it is not the person’s intention at the beginning of the week to care for the child (except in the case of the death of C – see separate section on the death of C);

during any part of which the person is entitled to statutory sick pay (under Part 11 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992);

following the week in which the person claiming ShPP has died; or

during any part of which the person is detained in legal custody or sentenced to a term of imprisonment (except where the sentence is suspended). However, there is liability to pay ShPP in respect of any week (or part of a week) during any part of which the person who is entitled to that pay is detained in legal custody where that person—

- is released subsequently without charge;

- is subsequently found not guilty of any offence and is released; or - is convicted of an offence but does not receive a custodial sentence.

Change of notice conditions in the case of an early birth Where the birth takes place before the beginning of the week in which the child was due, different notification requirements for SPL and ShPP apply in respect of leave/pay in the eight weeks following the expected week of the birth. 1) Where a parent (be it M or P) has notified his or her employer of entitlement to SPL/ShPP and has also given notice to “book” a period of SPL/ShPP to start within 8 weeks of the child’s expected week


of birth and the child is born early, the parent may take the SPL/ShPP the same period of time after the actual birth by submitting a notice to vary the SPL/ShPP as soon as practicable following the birth. Example 1:

Week 1

2 3 4 C’s EWC

5 6 7 8 9

M M is on maternity leave and has given binding notice to end maternity leave/pay at week 20.

P’s intended pattern

At work Paternity leave SPL/ShPP At work

P’s amended pattern

At work

Paternity leave SPL/ShPP At work

Comment If P was planning to take 2 weeks of paternity leave after the birth and had booked 3 weeks of SPL and/or ShPP consecutive to the paternity leave (thus being at home for a continuous period of 5 weeks), he or she could still take the same amount of SPL/ShPP 2 weeks after the actual date of the birth, if he or she notified their employer of the change as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s birth. The change would not count towards the total cap of 3 notifications on SPL and would not be subject to the normal period of 8 weeks’ notice.

2) The above arrangement does NOT apply to SPL or ShPP that was booked for after 8 weeks after the birth; nor to any change in the number of weeks of SPL/ShPP booked. Any changes to such leave would be subject to the notice variation requirement and would be subject to 8 weeks’ notice, irrespective of the child having been born early. Example 2:

Week 1 DOB

2 3 EWC

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

M Maternity leave SPL/ShPP

P At work Paternity leave

SPL/ShPP

Comment SPL/ShPP was due to start in week 11 (9 weeks after the expected DOB in week 3). However the baby was born early in week 1. Any change to the intended start date and pattern of SPL/ShPP in week 11 would be subject to the normal 8 week notice period.

3) There is also a modification where a parent has notified entitlement to SPL, and 8 weeks have not passed since the notification or he or she has not yet “booked” a period of SPL, and C is born 8 or more weeks before the week in which C was due to be born. In these circumstances, there is no minimum notice period. Example 3:

Week 1 2 3 DOB

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 EWC

14 15

M Maternity Leave SPL/ShPP

P At work Paternity leave

SPL/ShPP

Comment:


In week 1 M and P notify their respective employers of their entitlement to SPL, but they do not ‘book’ any leave pattern/start date at this point. The baby is born 10 weeks early in week 3. In these cases the parent can book a period of leave to start within 8 weeks of the actual birth if he or she gives the notice as soon as reasonably practicable after C’s actual birth. In these circumstances, there is no minimum notice period. In this example when C is born both M and P submit their notice to book SPL/ShPP starting from week 7 and 5 respectively.

4) Where the parent has not given a notice of entitlement to SPL, and C is born eight or more weeks before the first day of the expected week of birth, then the requirement for 8 weeks’ notice before the start date of a period of leave is to be treated as satisfied if the notice is given as soon as reasonably practicable after C’s date of birth. Similarly the requirement to give 8 weeks’ notice to “book” a period of leave is to be treated as satisfied if the period of leave is to start within eight weeks following C’s date of birth and the notice is given as soon as reasonably practicable after C’s date of birth.


Patterns of leave Leave must be taken in weekly blocks but other than that there are no limitations on the pattern of shared leave within the allowable start and end dates. For example:-

SPL/ShPP can be taken in discontinuous blocks of a week – e.g. one week at work, one week at home.

Both parents can be on leave at the same time – either a mother can still be on maternity leave and in receipt of SMP or MA (or an adopter on adoption leave and in receipt of SAP) whilst the partner is on paternity leave or shared parental leave and receiving ShPP; or both parents can be on shared parental leave and drawing shared parental pay at the same time.

SPL/ShPP can begin for the partner whilst the mother is still on maternity leave (or the adopter still on his or her adoption leave) if she gives binding notice to end her maternity leave/SMP/MA (or adoption leave/SAP) at some future date before she has taken her full entitlement. Where notice to end maternity leave/SMP/MA is given prior to birth, it can be revoked within 6 weeks of the DOB. See Notice to end maternity or adoption leave is revoked. This does not apply in the case of adoption.

A mother (or adopter) can end her maternity (or adoption) leave and pay and go straight onto SPL/ShPP without returning to work.

A mother (or adopter) can return to work without opting into SPL/ShPP and can “opt” in with her partner at a later stage.

Within the start date (once notification and evidence of eligibility is provided with the relevant notice) and the end date (the day before the child’s first birthday or the day before the first anniversary of a child placed for adoption), the parent is entitled to take the SPL and ShPP accruing to him or her in a single continuous block or in discontinuous blocks, subject to the necessary notice periods. The cap of 3 notifications to “book” leave means that an employee may take up to 3 separate blocks of leave, but this cap may be exceeded with the consent of the employer. An employee may increase or decrease the number of weeks of SPL and ShPP accruing to them by transferring leave and pay to or from their partner, with consent of both parents, so long as the overall total does not exceed the total available to them jointly. Each parent must inform their employer of a change in the number of weeks of SPL and ShPP that he or she intends to take. This transfer of leave between the partners does not count towards the cap of 3 notices to book leave. So, an employee is entitled to take up to 3 separate blocks of leave without requiring the agreement of the employer. More periods can be taken with the consent of the employer. The following circumstances do not count towards the limit of 3 notices:

A notice withdrawn within 15 days of providing it.

A notice to vary leave due to a child being born earlier or later than the EWC.

A notice to vary leave provided following a request from the employer that the employee vary a period of leave.

Developers are free to design their own solution to this flexibility but it may be necessary to have an overall high level start and end date to SPL (applicable to the couple) and the lower level start and end dates of individual periods of leave within the pattern. Furthermore, ShPP may or may not be payable in each of the individual periods of SPL – again this depends on how the couple allocate payments of ShPP between themselves. There are some examples of valid leave patterns on the following pages. Notice periods for leave The employee must ‘book’ the leave and pay by giving the employer at least 8 weeks’ notice (except in the exceptional circumstances of early birth or following the death of M).


There is a statutory cap of 3 notices to book SPL, so each employee has the right to submit 3 separate notices to book SPL. Each notice may contain a single block of leave or 2 or more discontinuous periods of leave of not less than one week. Each notice to book leave and to vary leave counts against the cap of 3 notices. The consent of both M and P is required for the original notice and to any variations. The cap of 3 notices may be disregarded at the discretion of the employer. With the agreement of the employer, there is no limit on the number of notices to book leave that may be submitted. A statutory right to a 4th notice is granted in the event of the death of the Other Parent and any remaining SPL defaulting to the surviving parent where he or she has already exhausted his or her entitlement to 3 notices to book leave. Following submission of a notice to “book” discontinuous weeks of leave, there is a 2 week discussion period during which the employee may withdraw the notice without penalty if no agreement is reached or if the employer refuses or does not respond (i.e. the notice does not count against the cap of 3 and no requirement to take SPL or ShPP arises). Where the notice is for a single block of continuous leave, so long as the number of weeks fall within the overall period during which SPL and ShPP can be taken, and the number of weeks do not exceed the maximum accruing to the employee, the employee has the right to the leave and pay. The employer’s agreement to the start date is not a required but the employee must still provide 8 weeks’ notice to the employer. When the notice contains a request for 2 or more weeks of discontinuous leave, then the 2 week discussion period can be used for the employer to either:-

Agree to the periods of leave requested.

Propose alternative dates for the periods of leave.

Refuse the periods of leave. This results in the employee being required to take the leave in a single block.

Where no agreement has been reached by the end of 2 week discussion period and the employee has not withdrawn the notice, the employee is entitled to:-

withdraw the notice by the 15th day after submitting it, or

take the total amount of leave requested in the notice as a continuous period of leave.

Where an employee chooses to take a continuous period of leave it must start on a date which is not earlier than 8 weeks from the date that the period of leave notice was given. The employee must also notify the employer of that date within 5 days of the end of the two week discussion period. If the employee does not specify a start date by the end of the 5 day period, then the leave must start on the date of the first period of leave specified in the “booking” notice given to the employer. The Employers Technical Guide to Shared Parental Leave and Pay has further guidance and examples. Summary of notice period dates 8 week notice period Start date is the date on which the notice is given. End date of the 8 week period is the start date + 7 weeks and 6 days. 2 week discussion period Start date is the same start date as the 8 week notice period End date is the start date + 13 days. 5 day single block notice period following refusal of discontinuous leave pattern The start date is the day after the end date of the 2 week discussion period. The end date is the start date + 4 days. Example



Proposed leave start date 05/08/15 The latest date notice could be given to provide the employer with 8 weeks’ notice is 10/06/15 The end date of the notice period would therefore be 04/08/15 If notice was given to the employer on 10/06/15 the 2 week decision period 10/06/15 – 23/06/15 5 day single block notice period is 24/06/15 – 28/06/15


Flowchart – Process to agree start date with employer Colour code: Green arrow – YES, Red arrow – NO, Amber arrow – MOVE TO NEXT STAGE

Employee submits notice of entitlement to SPL/ShPP to ER at least 8 weeks before any SPL/P is taken. It is likely that the employee will also submit a notice “book” the first period of leave at the same time, but a notice to “book” SPL may also be submitted at other times.

If the notice contains discontinuous periods of leave Employer has 2 weeks (2 week discussion period) from date notification received to either:-

Agree to leave pattern proposed.

Refuse discontinuous periods of leave. discontinuous

Propose alternative dates.

Is the date chosen by employee not less than 8 weeks after the date leave pattern given to employer?

Leave/pay begins on 1st date in notice.

If no agreement is reached SPL/ShPP is taken in a single block starting on date chosen by employee.

Does employee withdraw notice and re-submit a new leave pattern?

Does employee withdraw notice?

Does employee agree to alternative dates?

Leave/pay begins on agreed date.

Continuous block of leave must start on the start date of the first period of leave in the booking notice.

Has employee notified the chosen start date to employer within 5 days of the end of the 2 week discussion period starting with date notice was given to employer?

Process re-starts.

Process re-starts.

If leave is booked in a single block the employee has the right to take the leave on the dates specified if 8 weeks’ notice is given.


Leave pattern examples



Mother – unpaid maternity leave Partner - Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

Mother - unpaid SPL (no ShPP) At work

Example 1 Shared Childcare Child’s DOB in week 1

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

D

Example 2 Family at home together Child’s DOB in week 1 2 weeks of SMP taken and full entitlement of 37 weeks ShPP and 50 weeks of Shared Parental Leave used up P takes 2 weeks paternity pay

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P






Example 3 P is primary carer Child’s DOB in week 1 2 weeks SMP taken P takes 2 weeks paternity pay

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P

Example 4 Separate blocks of shared leave Child’s DOB in week 1 No paternity pay is taken in this example – this may be unusual but is still valid

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P






Example 5 Both parents have a period at work during SPL Child’s DOB in week 1 P takes 2 weeks paternity pay M and P each use up their 20 SPLIT days allowance during weeks 7 - 15 M and P both work weeks 16 and 17 then resume SPL from week 18 M and P end their SPL at the start of week 27 without using their full entitlement to SPL

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P

Example 6 Separate blocks of shared leave Child’s DOB in week 1 SMP commences 4 weeks before the child’s DOB and P takes 2 weeks paternity pay 2 weeks unpaid maternity leave are taken before Shared Parental Leave starts SPL ends in week 48 on the chart below because the maternity leave period started 4 weeks before DOB

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

M

P

Week 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P






Example 7 Break before SPL starts Child’s DOB in week 1 SMP starts 4 weeks before child’s DOB P takes 2 weeks paternity pay 3 weeks at work are taken before SPL starts SPL ends in week 51

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

M

P

Week 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P

Example 8 Mother has occupational maternity scheme with full pay for 6 months Child’s DOB in week 1 P takes 2 weeks paternity pay The couple both return to work at week 27 having taken 26 weeks SMP and 6 weeks ShPP

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P






Example 9 Unpaid SPL taken before SPL/ShPP Child’s DOB in week 1 P takes 2 weeks paternity pay Unpaid SPL taken before SPL/ShPP

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P

Example 10 Father dies after SPL/ShPP has started Child’s DOB in week 1 P takes 2 weeks paternity pay then starts SPL/ShPP P was due to take SPL/ShPP up to and including week 22 but dies in week 13. In death cases ShPP is paid up until the end of the ShPP week in which death occurs. Remaining entitlement is used up by M.

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P P was due to take weeks 14 – 22 as SPL/ShPP but the remaining entitlement after P’s death in week 13 is used up by M

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P






Example 11 SPP taken during SPL/ShPP Child’s DOB in week 1 P takes 2 weeks SPP in the middle of SPL/ShPP Full SPL/ShPP entitlement is not taken. This example will probably be very rare but it is possible. See Statutory Paternity Leave/Pay and Shared Parental Leave/Pay

Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

M

P

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

M

P


Start and end dates of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) 1) SPL can start on any day of the week. If SPL begins on a Tuesday for example SPL weeks will run for Tuesday to Monday. The agreed SPL pattern must be in weekly blocks but see para 11 below. 2) SPL cannot be taken before the birth of the child and must be taken before the child’s first birthday or the first anniversary of the placement of the child. It cannot exist beyond that date. Any leave and pay not taken before the child’s first birthday/anniversary at the end point is forfeited. Validation: Ref SPL1 Start date must be < C’s 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of date of placement for adoption – 7 days 3) M is required to take at least 2 weeks of maternity leave following the child’s DOB (4 weeks if she works in a factory). Therefore, M’s maternity leave cannot be curtailed within 2 weeks of child’s DOB and M cannot be on SPL within 2 weeks of the birth. But remember that provided:-

notice to curtail the maternity leave at a future date has been given by M at least 8 weeks prior, and

if P has notified entitlement to SPL/ShPP, and

given notice to take the leave and pay at least 8 weeks prior, then

P can start SPL on or after the child’s DOB while M is still on maternity leave. Similarly, adopters may not curtail their adoption leave within 2 weeks of it beginning, but if notice to curtail/notification of entitlement to SPL/ShPP is provided at least 8 weeks prior, it is possible for the other adopter to be on SPL while their partner is on adoption leave.

The software must allow an SPL start date for M individually that is at least 2 weeks after the child’s DOB, and allow a start date of the date of birth for P.

Where A is an intended parent (surrogacy cases), they may only begin their adoption leave and pay from birth, and may not curtail within 2 weeks of the beginning of leave (in effect within 2 weeks of birth). The software must, therefore, also allow an SPL start date for A (where A is an intended parent) that is at least 2 weeks after the child’s DOB, and allow a start date for SPL of the date of birth for P.

In adoption, A can begin adoption leave up to 14 days before placement, and may not curtail within 2 weeks of the beginning of that leave. Therefore, the software must allow that both A P can begin SPL from date of placement.

In fostering for adoption, adoption leave can be taken in the same way as when a child is matched for adoption – it can start up to 14 days before placement, but must start no later than the placement date. So A and P can begin SPL from the placement.

Validation: Ref SPL2 (birth only) The start date of M’s first week of SPL must be > child’s DOB + 2 weeks Ref SPL3 (adoption only) In adoption cases the start date of A’s first week of SPL must be > date of placement 4) The start date of SPL/ShPP for P can be earlier than the end date of maternity or adoption leave/pay if M/A has given notice to end maternity or adoption leave at a date in the future. If binding notice to end maternity or adoption leave/pay/allowance has not been given, then M or A has to end the maternity or adoption leave and MPP or MAP or APP before SPL (and ShPP) can start. In adoption cases A can start adoption leave up to 2 weeks in advance of the date of placement but P cannot start SPL/ShPP until the date of placement at the earliest.


Validation Ref SPL4 If binding notice is held SPL start date for P must be > C’s DOB or date of placement 5) If no binding notice is given by M (or A) then they must return to work to end the maternity/adoption leave. Therefore in theory the earliest possible SPL start date for M (or A) is the day after the return to duty. In reality this is very unlikely because she is required to give her employer 8 weeks’ notice of the start date. However this is a valid date if, for whatever reason, the employer accepted her request to start SPL from the next day. So this is the earliest possible start date from a data validation point of view. Similarly, P is also required to give 8 weeks’ notice of the start date but in the same circumstances P could in theory start SPL on M’s return to duty date (the day after the last day of maternity/adoption leave). Again this would only possible if the employer did not insist on the required notice period and is unlikely to happen. But the software should allow for any variation in the notice period accepted by the employer so that processing is not prevented. Validation: Ref SPL5 If binding notice not held SPL start date for M or A must be > M or A’s return to duty date Ref SPL6 If binding notice not held SPL start date for P must be > M or A’s return to duty date 6) There are two levels of SPL start date. SPL is a shared entitlement and there is an overall start date of SPL which applies to the couple. This is the first date either M (or A) or P is first on SPL. At a lower level there is the start date of individual period(s) leave/pay. Both M (or A) and P cannot start SPL before the DOB/date of placement so the overall start date of SPL must be on or after this date. Validation: Ref SPL7 Overall SPL start date for the couple must be > child’s DOB or date of placement 7) The end date of SPL (and ShPP) must be before the child’s first birthday or 1st anniversary of the date of placement for adoption. Validation: Ref SPL8 SPL end date must be < C’s 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of date of placement 8) The number of weeks available as SPL is the amount of unused weeks of maternity or adoption leave (any weeks of SPL taken by P where notice has been given before birth and then revoked by the end of the 6th week after birth must also be deducted – see Example A) ShPP paid to partner before a valid revocation is submitted. ). At least 2 weeks of maternity leave must be taken following the child’s birth so SPL itself can’t last longer than 50 weeks. Except in the event of M’s death – see Death of the mother. Similarly, an adopter must take a minimum of two weeks adoption leave before moving to SPL so SPL is limited to 50 weeks.


In cases (restricted to birth cases) where the SPL is triggered for the second time (following revocation of curtailment notice within 6 weeks of the birth) the number of weeks SPL and ShPP taken by the by P in the first occurrence (including up to 8 weeks of leave that P’s employer may require him to take following M’s revocation) must be deducted from the weeks available in the second occurrence. So the software will need to link SPL/ShPP records from all occurrences of SPL relating to the same child’s DOB. If M’s employer’s software does not hold a record of any SPL/ShPP weeks taken by P in a previous occurrence (where M gave notice to curtail then revoked), P will need to record the weeks taken on the entitlement notice for the second occurrence. Validation: Ref SPL9 Total SPL entitlement in weeks for both partners must be < 50 if M’s date of death NOT held Ref SPL10 Total SPL entitlement in weeks for both partners must be < 52 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is < curtailment date) Ref SPL11 Total SPL entitlement in weeks for both partners must be < 50 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is > curtailment date) 9) An employee is required to provide their employer with notice of their entitlement at least 8 weeks before the start date of their first period of leave. An employee who has notified entitlement to SPL must also give notice to “book” leave at least 8 weeks before the first leave is due to start. In the case of an early birth a change can be made that is not subject to the 8 week notice. Both these notices may be given at the same time on the same form but this may not always be the case. For example, M may give notice to her employer that she is entitled to SPL/ShPP well in advance of the birth, but she may not decide exactly what weeks to take until after the birth. Once the couple have decided how much SPL/ShPP to take and when to take it, P may then notify his employer of both the entitlement and pattern of leave at the same time. M and P have this flexibility but they must give their respective employers 8 weeks’ notice. It is recommended that the validation check below is a warning message so that processing is not prevented in a case where the employer chose to accept a notice period of less than 8 weeks. Validation: Ref SPL12 Warning - Date of notice of entitlement > (SPL start date* – 8 weeks) Ref SPL13 Warning - Date of notice to book leave > (SPL start date* – 8 weeks) * This is the start date this employee is first absent on SPL. The other parent may have already started their periods of SPL. 10) If M returns to duty or curtails her maternity leave in the middle of a maternity leave week this part week is always rounded up to the next whole week for calculating entitlement to SPL weeks.


For example if M returned to duty after taking 10 weeks and 1 day of maternity leave this would leave 52 minus 11 weeks available for SPL. Validation: Ref SPL14 Part weeks of maternity leave are always rounded up to the next whole week when calculating SPL entitlement 11) If SPL ends in the middle of a SPL week one full week of entitlement will be lost for that part week. Example: P is entitled to 10 weeks of SPL/ShPP and agreed with the employer to take it all in one period of SPL/ShPP. But P returns to work early after 8 weeks and 1 day. P is deemed as having used 9 weeks of SPL/ShPP and the couple will only have 1 week of SPL/ShPP entitlement remaining to take at a later date. The absence above would be recorded in the software as an absence of 8 weeks and 1 day. SPL entitlement is calculated in weeks but the software must still be able to record SPL absences in weeks and days. There is no entitlement to part weeks of ShPP, 1 week of ShPP entitlement will be lost for that 1 day. Please note however that the part week could be made up to a full week by using SPLIT days if the employee has any remaining from their allowance of 20. Validation: Ref SPL15 If SPL ends in the middle of a SPL week one full week of entitlement will be lost for that part week.


Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) 1) ShPP can only be paid when the employee is on SPL, except in the following cases:-

Agency workers can be entitled to statutory pay but not statutory leave.

An employee who was employed during the week (Sun – Sat) before the first week of ShPP claimed will be entitled ShPP even if the employee subsequently ceases to be employed by the employer. In these cases ShPP would be payable without the SPL

Validation: Ref ShPP1 The start date of ShPP cannot be recorded if no SPL start date exists Ref ShPP2 The start date of each ShPP period must be > SPL start date Ref ShPP3 The start date of each ShPP period must be < (SPL end date – 6 days) Ref ShPP4 The end date of each ShPP period must be < SPL end date The validation checks above will not apply in a case where the employee is entitled to ShPP but not entitled to SPL – see 1) above. 2) ShPP can start on any day of the week. If ShPP starts on a Tuesday for example the weeks of entitlement will run from Tuesday to Monday but note that separate blocks of ShPP can start/end on different days of the week. The ShPP weeks don't have to follow on immediately after SMP/SAP or start/end on the same day of the week as SMP/SAP. The start/end days of M's ShPP week can also be different to the start/end days of P's ShPP week. 3 ShPP weeks must be taken before the child’s first birthday or the 1st anniversary of placement for adoption. The mother has to end her MPP/MAP or APP earlier than the 39 week date for any ShPP to be available but ShPP can be taken later than the end of 39 week MPP used for SMP or the APP used for SAP. It can be taken up to the day before the child’s first birth/anniversary of placement. In this way, ShPP is different from ASPP. Any weeks of ShPP not used before the child’s first birthday or the anniversary of the date of placement will be lost. Validation: Ref ShPP5 The end date of each ShPP period must be < child’s 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of date of placement 4) For entitlement to ShPP to arise the mother’s maternity leave and pay/allowance (or adopter’s adoption pay) must have ended before the end of the 39 week MPP/MAP/APP, or binding notice to end the maternity leave and pay/allowance at a future date (within the 39 week period for pay/allowance) must have been given by the mother to her employer (or the adopter to his or her employer). The MPP/MAP/APP will end on the last day of the SMP/MA/SAP pay week in which notice to end the period takes effect. This will be the curtailment date of statutory pay.


The notice to end maternity or adoption leave/pay becomes binding (except in the limited circumstance where it can be revoked) once either M or P (or A or P) has notified his or her employer of entitlement and intention to take SPL or ShPP. Where it is only P who intends to take SPL/ShPP and therefore M or A does not submit a notice to her employer of entitlement to SPL, then M or A must submit to her employer a declaration that P has submitted a notice of entitlement and intention to take SPL to his employer. The binding notice allows the ShPP to start for the partner before the mother returns to work or before her MPP or MAP or APP ends (the mother or adopter cannot take ShPP/SPL whilst she is still in the maternity or adoption leave/pay period). 5) The number of weeks of ShPP available to M and P jointly (or A and P jointly) will normally be 39 minus the SMP/MA or SAP taken during the mother’s maternity or adopter’s adoption leave (and less any weeks of ShPP taken by P where notice to curtail was given before the birth and revoked within 6 weeks of the birth.). SMP/MA can last for up to 39 weeks but the mother must take at least 2 weeks of paid maternity leave following the child’s birth, so there will be a maximum of 37 weeks available for ShPP. Similarly, SAP can last up to 39 weeks, but adopters and intended parents must take at least two weeks adoption leave before opting in to SPL, so there is a maximum of 37 weeks available for ShPP. Except in the event of M’s death – see Death of the mother Validation: Ref ShPP6 Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 37 if M’s date of death NOT held. Ref ShPP7 Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 39 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is < curtailment date) Ref ShPP8 Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 37 if (M’s date of death IS held AND is > curtailment date) 6) If M or P (or A) return to work in the middle of a ShPP week one full week of entitlement will be lost for that part week. ShPP cannot be paid for part weeks. Example: P is entitled to 10 weeks of SPL/ShPP and agreed with the employer to take it all in one period of SPL/ShPP. But P returns to work early after 8 weeks and 1 day. P is deemed as having used 9 weeks of SPL/ShPP and the couple will only have 1 week of SPL/ShPP entitlement remaining to take at a later date. The absence above would be recorded in the software as an absence of 8 weeks and 1 day. SPL entitlement is calculated in weeks but the software must still be able to record SPL absences in weeks and days. There is no entitlement to part weeks of ShPP, 1 week of ShPP entitlement will be lost for that 1 day. Please note however that the part week could be made up to a full week by using SPLIT days if the employee has any remaining from their allowance of 20. Validation: Ref ShPP9 If SPL ends in the middle of a ShPP week, the part week of ShPP will result in the loss of one full week of ShPP entitlement 7) Where a woman has not given binding notice to end her maternity leave and pay, but has returned to work before giving notice to end her MPP/MAP and she and/or her partner have given notice to


take SPL/ShPP, the number of weeks of ShPP will be the number of weeks of untaken SMP/MA as at the point she returned to work. Any SMP/MA paid to the mother for whatever reason in the period between her returning to work and ending her MPP to enter into SPL/ShPP is disregarded for the calculation of entitlement to weeks of ShPP. See example on following page. The number of weeks of ShPP is “set in stone” at the mother’s return to work, irrespective of any further SMP/MA that may be paid to her for further absence from work for whatever reason - further absence will not be maternity leave because her maternity leave ends irrevocably on her return to work, but she would, for example receive SMP instead of SSP when absent due to sickness if the MPP has not ended. See example on following page. 8) An employee who was employed during the week (Sun – Sat) before the first week of ShPP claimed will be entitled ShPP even if the employee subsequently ceases to be employed by the employer. In these cases ShPP would be payable without the SPL. Validation checks ShPP1 – ShPP4 would not apply in this case. Validation: Ref ShPP10 ShPP is payable if employment end date is > Sunday of Sun to Sat week before ShPP start date.


Example: The number of unused SMP weeks available for ShPP is set at the point the mother returns to duty from maternity leave. Key

Mother - paid maternity leave (SMP/MA) Father – SPL and paid ShPP

Mother – SPL and paid ShPP Father – unpaid SPL (no ShPP)

Mother – unpaid maternity leave Father - Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)


Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Mum SMP SMP SMP SSP SSP

Dad

Week 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

Mum

Dad

Explanation SMP paid for weeks 1 – 20 while mother on maternity leave. At this stage the mother has NOT given any binding notice to end maternity leave and pay and opt into SPL/ShPP arrangements. She returns to work at week 21. This action ends her maternity leave but her 39 week MPP continues because she has not given any notice to end it. She is then sick from week 22 – 26 and is due to be paid SMP NOT SSP for these weeks because her MPP is still running (SSP cannot be paid during the MPP). However, at the start of week 24 she gives notice to her employer to end the MPP and opt into SPL/ShPP with her partner. Her MPP ends at the end of the SMP/MA pay week in which she gives the notice to end her MPP/MAP/APP so she can now be paid SSP for week 25-26 As an employer requires 8 weeks’ notice, P can only give notice when M was curtailed her MPP so ShPP cannot commence before the start of week 32. The amount of ShPP available is the unused SMP at the time the mother returned to work in week 21 which is 19 weeks. So in this example, M would have claimed 20 weeks of SMP whilst on maternity leave and then been paid 3 weeks of SMP for further absence from work following her return to work. P would then have claimed 19 weeks of ShPP. The total combined SMP and ShPP paid would thus total 42 weeks. Any SMP paid during absence from work following return to work (thus ending maternity leave) is not counted towards the total of ShPP weeks available. However, standard employer recovery action will still apply to any SMP paid during the sick leave. In the example above, a total of 42 weeks of SMP and ShPP will be reclaimed.


8) In addition to the pattern of ShPP and leave the software will also need

maternity or adoption leave start date and end date (or date due to end)

number of weeks of maternity or adoption leave taken in total

SMP or SAP start date

Total weeks of SMP or maternity allowance claimed by M (or SAP claimed by A) before returning to work or curtailing/ending maternity (adoption) leave

a record of any weeks where SMP or SAP was paid (this is not needed for P’s employer)

a record of the total number of weeks of SPL and ShPP that the mother or adopter and partner are jointly entitled to, the number of weeks the employee is entitled to and the dates that the employee has “booked” SPL/ShPP

9) There is likely to be a number of periods where payment of ShPP starts and stops depending on the pattern of leave and pay so multiple entries for periods of ShPP payment will be required. The weeks used in each period will need to be totalled and checked against the total leave entitlement for the employee to ensure the maximum number of weeks to which the employee is eligible is not exceeded. In addition, the total number of weeks available to the employee can increase or decrease (within the overall total jointly available) if the parents transfer leave and pay entitlement between themselves 10) Entitlement to ShPP is always in full weeks but these full weeks of entitlement can be SPLIT and aligned with the pay periods. See section on Part Week Payments 11) The mother (or adopter) can’t be paid ShPP before her maternity (or adoption) pay period has come to an end. If she returns to work before the date she has notified her SMP/MA/SAP will end (the binding notice date) then the number of weeks of SPL and ShPP do not change. Where binding notice to curtail has been served, this determines the number of weeks of SPL and ShPP available. Returning to work earlier does not change this. The MPP/MAP/APP continues until the date specified in the notice. So a mother or adopter retuning to work in advance of the date she has given notice to end her maternity or adoption leave and MPP or APP will not give rise to any additional weeks of SPL of ShPP. The number of weeks of SPL/ShPP is fixed by the curtailment notice. Example below


Example) Mother returns to work before the binding notice date

Mother gives notice to end maternity leave and pay at

the end of week 9

DOB is start of week 1

M returns to work at the beginning of week 7

Mother’ notice specifies she will end maternity leave and MPP/MAP at the end of week 9

Week1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10

MOTHER (M) Maternity leave and SMP/MA paid. ShPP is not payable to mother yet because binding notice date is not until week 9. She can’t start ShPP before that date.

M returns to work but ShPP is still not payable to M until after week 9 because she is still in the MPP/MAP.

ShPP can be paid to M from week 10

PARTNER (P) Because M has given notice to end maternity leave in week 9 and will have taken 9 weeks of maternity leave by that point, 43 (52 – 9) weeks of SPL will be available. P could commence SPL/ShPP from the birth in week 1 if desired – 8 weeks’ notice of the actual start date of P’s SPL would have been given to P’s employer.

General comment: M has given notice to end maternity leave and MPP/MAP at the end of week 9. If she returns to work at week 7 her maternity leave ends, but her MPP/MAP continues to week 9. M cannot be paid ShPP whilst her MPP/MAP is running. However, because she has given notice to curtail her maternity leave at week 9, we know there would be 43 weeks of SPL and 30 weeks of ShPP available to the couple. The partner can start taking SPL/ShPP from and including the birth so long as he has given his employer 8 week notice.


Changes that can affect entitlement to SPL and ShPP Notice to end maternity or adoption leave is revoked 1) There are 3 circumstances in which a mother can revoke her notice to end her maternity leave before the leave curtailment date has passed (or before the woman has returned to work if she returns in advance of the curtailment date): (i) In the 8 weeks after giving the notice where they discover that neither M or P is entitled to either shared parental leave or ShPP. (ii) Where M served notice BEFORE the birth, she can revoke it up until the end of the sixth week after the birth. (iii) Following the death of the partner. M may also revoke her notice to reduce her MPP or MAP in (ii) and (iii) above. If neither M nor P are entitled to either SPL or ShPP then M had no entitlement to end her MPP/MAP/APP so the notice is invalid and does not need to be revoked. In the case of adoption, only (i) and (iii) above apply. The option to revoke notice at the 6 week point is not available to an adopter. Following revocation, maternity or adoption leave reverts to the full 52 weeks. In (ii) and (iii) P may already have taken some ShPP and SPL, but the mother’s MPP or MAP (or the adopter’s APP) reverts to the full 39 weeks and her maternity or adoption leave period reverts to the full 52 weeks. Should M want to opt into SPL/ShPP again at a later date, following revocation after 6 weeks she would have curtail her MPP again. In the event of revocation by a mother or adopter in (i) and (iii) above, there is no entitlement to subsequently opt into SPL/ShPP. Note: In the text below please note that references to the MPP apply equally to the MAP if M was employed but receiving MA instead of SMP. Validation: Ref REV1 Revocation is not allowed if binding notice to end maternity leave/pay was given to employer > C’s DOB (assuming partner has not died) Ref REV2 Revocation is allowed if binding notice to end maternity leave/pay was given to employer < C’s DOB Ref REV3 When binding notice is revoked the maternity leave period reverts to 52 weeks and the MPP will be reinstated to 39 weeks. Revocation of curtailment notice at 6 weeks following birth 2) A revocation of notice to curtail maternity leave and pay given before birth cannot be accepted later than 6 weeks after the child’s DOB so the maternity leave and pay will end on the date specified in the notice. The notice of entitlement to SPL/ShPP also stands, as does any SPL or ShPP that is booked by M or P (unless a notice of variation is served) Validation:


Ref REV4 Date of revocation must be < (DOB + 6 weeks) (Except in cases where the partner has died or there is no entitlement to SPL or ShPP) 3) If the curtailment date has already passed, or if maternity leave or adoption leave has already ended by a return to work, a revocation of a curtailment notice is not allowed. Validation: Ref REV5 Date of revocation must be < date of curtailment of maternity leave Ref REV6 SPL and ShPP start dates cannot be recorded if revocation date is held 4) In the event of a 6 week curtailment, if ShPP was paid to the partner before the revocation date, ShPP entitlement will end on the last day of the ShPP week before the revocation date. SMP will re-start for the mother from the day after the earlier end date of SMP, as if the ShPP had not existed. This means the Earnings Rate of SMP would still apply within the first 6 weeks of SMP. See Example A) ShPP paid to partner before a valid revocation is submitted. Validation: Ref REV7 If ShPP start date is held and valid revocation date is entered the last day for payment of ShPP will be end of the previous ShPP week, Or, if revocation date is in the first week of ShPP then no ShPP is due. 5) Any ShPP paid to the partner during the period in which P was entitled to it (prior to revocation at 6 weeks or on the death of P), is legitimately paid and does not need to be recovered from the partner. The employer can still make recoveries on the amount of ShPP correctly paid prior to revocation in the normal manner at the 92% or 103% rate in the same way as the other statutory payments. If for example ShPP was due to be paid for the first two weeks in a month but the payment hadn’t actually been made because the pay day was at the end of the month, then a revocation was made part way through the month, the ShPP should still be paid because there was entitlement at the point it was due. 6) In the event of revocation at 6 weeks, M is not precluded from giving notice at a later date or opting into SPL/ShPP following a return to work. (M is not entitled to opt into SPL/ShPP with a new partner following death of P). In the example above for the 6 week revocation, the mother/partner opts back into ShPP arrangements at a later date for the same child, the weeks of ShPP paid originally would be taken off their entitlement when they opt back in. 7) In the event of a revocation within the 6 week period if the partner is taking SPL, or has notified his/her employer that he is taking leave on specific dates, the partner’s employer may require him to take leave booked or remain absent from work on unpaid shared parental leave until the leave is due to end or for 8 weeks following revocation, whichever is the sooner (even though, in fact, entitlement to SPL has ceased). This reflects the current position for Additional Paternity Leave. Any weeks of SPL taken must be deducted from any entitlement to SPL should the couple opt in again at a later date. There is no entitlement to ShPP in such a period of “forced” leave. Notice to curtail maternity or adoption leave at a future date is revoked because the mother’s or adopter’s partner dies


8) Where a mother’s or adopter’s partner dies before the curtailment date has passed, a mother or adopter may revoke notice to end her maternity or adoption leave and pay within a reasonable time (this is not defined in the regulations) of her partner’s death. If M has returned to work early before the death then curtailment is irrelevant as the maternity leave has already finished. In this case the mother’s maternity pay/allowance period (and the adopter’s pay period) is reinstated to 39 weeks and 52 weeks of leave regardless of whether any, or how many weeks of, ShPP was paid to the partner prior to death. If the date of death occurred in a week that was paid ShPP the last day for payment would be the last day of the ShPP week in which death occurred. Validation: Ref REV8 When P’s date of death is < curtailment date a revocation date can be > (DOB + 6 weeks) 9) A mother or adopter does not have to revoke her curtailment notice following the death of P. If she is entitled to SPL and ShPP, all remaining SPL/ShPP will default to her. Revocation cannot take place after the curtailment date. The curtailment date is the last day of maternity leave/pay. Validation: Ref REV9 Revocation is not allowed when P’s date of death is > curtailment date or after M has returned to work 10) Any ShPP taken by the partner before the death is deducted from the overall total available. Only the balance of untaken SPL and ShPP transfers to the mother or adopter. See example B on the following pages. 11) A mother or adopter who has revoked her binding notice to end maternity leave and pay following the death of a partner cannot subsequently opt into ShPP/L with another partner, as one of the conditions of entitlement is that M or A shared responsibility for the child at the time of birth or placement for adoption. 12) When a revocation has taken place the combined period of maternity or adoption leave and SPL can be more than 52 weeks. See Examples A and B on the following pages.


Example A) ShPP paid to partner before a valid revocation is submitted.

Mother gives notice to end

maternity leave at end of week 9

DOB is start of

week 1

Revocation date given at the end of week 4

Mother gave notice to end maternity leave at end of week 9 (subsequently revoked at week4)


MOTHER (M) M is on maternity leave and gave notice before the birth that her maternity leave would end at week 9. Following the birth, she changes her mind and in week 4 the mother revokes the notification to end maternity leave in week 9. The revocation is valid because the notice was given prior to birth and the revocation is submitted within 6 weeks of the DOB. Her maternity leave continues on past week 9.

PARTNER (P)

Partner paid ShPP in weeks 2/3

Revocation given in week 4 – ShPP stops

General comment: ShPP paid to P in weeks 2/3 is correctly paid because there was entitlement to it in those weeks. Any ShPP paid after week 3 is an overpayment that should be recovered from P by the employer. P is under obligation to tell his/her employer about the revocation. M’s maternity leave/pay reverts to 52/39 weeks regardless of the SPL/P taken by the partner. If she takes all her entitlement to maternity leave/pay the family would have taken a total of 52+2 weeks of maternity leave/SPL and 39+2 weeks of SMP/ShPP. This is allowable when revocation has taken place. M is entitled to give another binding notice to end her maternity leave and pay and opt into SPL/ShPP again at a later date; or to return to work and then opt into SPL/ShPP. If they do opt into SPL/ShPP again the ShPP paid in weeks 2/3 should be deducted from the total ShPP weeks due.


Example B) Revocation where M’s partner dies

Mother gives notice to end

maternity leave at end of week 9

DOB is start of

week 1

Partner dies in week 7

Mother gave notice to end maternity leave at end of week 9


MOTHER (M) Mother is on maternity leave and gave notice before the birth that her maternity leave would end at week 9. But partner dies in week 7 and the mother chooses to revoke her notice to end maternity leave in week 9. Her maternity leave/pay continues and her entitlement reverts to 52/39 weeks.

Her maternity leave continues on past week 9 due to revocation following death of partner

PARTNER (P) Partner paid ShPP up until the end of week 7

General comment: The mother could have let her notice to end maternity leave in week 9 stand and moved onto SPL/P from week 9 (all remaining ShPP entitlement would transfer to her) but she chose to revoke the notice and her maternity leave/pay continues. Her maternity leave/pay reverts to 52/39 weeks regardless of the SPL/P taken by the partner. If she takes all her entitlement to maternity leave/pay the family would have taken a total of 52+7 weeks of maternity leave/SPL and 39+7 weeks of SMP/ShPP. This is allowable when revocation has taken place. A mother who has revoked her binding notice to end her maternity leave and pay following the death of a partner cannot subsequently opt into SPL/P with another partner


Flowchart - process for revocation within 6 weeks of child’s DOB.

Colour code: Green arrow – YES, Red arrow – NO, Amber arrow – MOVE TO NEXT STAGE

Revocation is not allowed. Curtailment remains in place.

P’s entitlement to SPL/ShPP ceases on the day of revocation. P required to tell employer. Employer may require P to be absent from work for any SPL booked in the 8 weeks. ShPP stops immediately. Employer entitled to reclaim from Exchequer ShPP paid out prior to revocation. Any ShPP paid to P following revocation is an overpayment of statutory pay and must be clawed back from P by employer. Any weeks of SPL/ShPP taken before revocation (and any SPL employer requires P to take after revocation) must be deducted from future entitlement should they couple opt in to SPL/ShPP again at a later date.

Revocation has no impact on subsequent opt in to SPL/ShPP.

Has P taken or booked any SPL/ShPP when revocation notice received?

Revocation is not allowed. Curtailment remains in pace.

Mother submits notice to curtail maternity leave and pay on a specific date and mother and/or partner submits notice of entitlement and intention to take SPL/ShPP (if only partner is taking SPL/ShPP, mother has to inform her employer so notice becomes binding). Therefore notice to curtail maternity leave and pay is binding except in limited circumstances where it can be revoked

Mother submits revocation notice.

Maternity leave has already ended so revocation of curtailment is not relevant.

Curtailment of maternity leave and pay is cancelled. Maternity leave reverts to 52 weeks and MPP/MAP to 39 weeks

Was the notice to curtail maternity leave/pay received by employer before the C’s birth?

Is the date of revocation within 6 weeks of the DOB?

Is revocation date before the curtailment date of maternity leave and pay?


The (employee) mother or partner is no longer caring for the child. An employee’s entitlement to SPL and ShPP arises because they are intending to care for the child. In relation to ShPP pay there are 2 requirements to be caring for the child. The first relates to entitlement: there must be a mother and a partner with each, at the time of the birth or placement for adoption, intending to share (with the other) the main responsibility for care of the child. This is not a continuing requirement - it is a requirement which applies when entitlement first arises. However, there is a further requirement that ShPP is only payable if it is the claimant's intention at the beginning of the week to care for the child. It is the responsibility of the employee to advise their employer of any change in circumstance. The employer is not required to check. In addition, there is no definition of “caring for the child” so the employer does not have to form a view of whether the employee is caring for the child. If an employee is not entitled to SPL or ShPP in a given week, that entitlement can transfer across to the partner who is caring for the child, although the employer is entitled to 8 week notice period for any changes to the leave pattern, but may accept a shorter period of notice if they wish. If both mother and partner are no longer caring for the child, SPL ends on the notified date. The last day for payment of ShPP would be the end of the previous ShPP week, or the notified date itself, if this happens to be the last day of a ShPP week. NB: As caring for the child is not defined, the employer should not decide whether or not the employee is caring for the child. Where an adoption placement breaks down after the child is placed with the family (i.e. is returned to the relevant authority), and a notice of entitlement has been given, see Death of the child or breakdown in adoption M and P do not have to be living together to care for the child, so entitlement to SPL does not automatically cease for a parent who leaves the family home. Validation: Ref: NOCARE1 Where No longer caring for child date is < SPL start date then no entitlement to SPL/ShPP Ref: NOCARE2 Where No longer caring for child date is > SPL start date then SPL stops on day before No longer caring for child date Ref: NOCARE3 Where No longer caring for child date is within an ShPP payment week then ShPP stops on the last day of the previous ShPP week OR, no ShPP due if No longer caring for child date is in the first week of ShPP Following initial notification it is discovered that there is no entitlement to SPL/ShPP 1) A mother can revoke within 8 weeks her notice to end maternity leave (before the curtailment date) if it is discovered that either M or P is not eligible for SPL or ShPP. If neither M nor P is eligible for SPL or ShPP then there is no entitlement to curtail the MPP or MAP and the notice is invalid no revocation is needed. If there is no entitlement to SPL or ShPP then the notice to curtail the MPP is void whenever is discovered. 2) If it is discovered on or after 8 weeks that neither M (or A) nor P is entitled to either SPL or ShPP, then no revocation is possible and the notice to end maternity or adoption leave is binding and maternity or adoption leave ends on the date specified in the notice. However, the MPP or MAP or


APP does not end but continues until the end of the 39 week period. Where neither parent is entitled to SPL or ShPP, then there is no entitlement to end the MPP/MAP/APP and thus it continues. 3) The date of notifying entitlement to SPL or ShPP is the date on which the notification is submitted to the employer as follows:

if sent by electronic communication, on the day of transmission;

if delivered personally, on the day of delivery.

if sent by post, on the day on which it is posted. The “Not eligible date” date described below is the date the employer discovers that either the mother or adopter and/or partner are not eligible for SPL/ShPP. The 8 week period in which revocation can take place in these cases is counted forward starting from the date the employer was notified of M or A’s intention to end maternity/adoption leave and take SPL. Validation: Ref: NO-ENT1 If Not eligible date is < (notification date + 8 weeks) then SPL is void. Maternity or adoption leave and MPP or APP continues. Ref: NO-ENT2 If not eligible date is > (notification date + 8 weeks) then end date of maternity or adoption leave remains in place. (The MPP/MAP/APP will continue to apply for 39 weeks even though maternity/adoption leave has ended and M or A has returned to work) Death of the child or breakdown in adoption 1) Where M or A and/or P have submitted a notification of entitlement to take SPL and ShPP, M or P is entitled to take any SPL/ShPP that they have booked to take before C died or in the case of adoption, the adoptive child is returned after placement. 2) Any entitlement to SPL or ShPP that had not been booked at the time of C’s death is no longer available to M and P. 3) Neither M or P is eligible to book any SPL or ShPP that had not previously been booked. No further notice can be given to book leave and only one variation notice may be given to reduce a period of leave or to aggregate discontinuous weeks into a single block of leave. Any variation notice is subject to 8 weeks’ notice. 4) Where C dies before a notice of entitlement has been given, M and P will not be allowed to opt into SPL and ShPP as one of the qualifying conditions is care of the child. If there is no child to care for, M remains entitled to maternity leave and pay/allowance and P is entitled to paternity leave/pay, subject to satisfying the qualifying requirements. Adoption leave/pay ends after 8 weeks. Death of the mother/adopter 1) The underlying principle when M dies without having curtailed leave or pay, is that the same arrangement applies that would have applied had she not died (except for sharing the care of the child and certain notification requirements). If P would not have been entitled to SPL and ShPP had M lived, he or she would still not be entitled to it in the event of her death.


2) Where M dies without having curtailed her maternity leave or pay or adoption leave or pay, an eligible P is entitled to take up to 52 weeks of SPL and 39 weeks of ShPP if P and M/A would have met the qualifying conditions had M/A not died. The 8 weeks’ notice requirement does not apply. Any maternity or adoption leave/pay taken by M/A before death would still need to be deducted from the weeks available to P. 3) Where M has curtailed maternity leave and pay, any SPL or ShPP allocated to M will default to an eligible P. P will be required to notify his employer of the change. Where P has already used the statutory allocation of 3 notices to book leave, P will acquire a statutory entitlement to submit a 4th notice to book leave. 4) If the mother had curtailed her maternity leave period before her death by giving notice to her employer and then revoked that curtailment, any SPL/ShPP pay taken by P prior to the curtailment would also need to be deducted from the weeks available to P after M’s death. Death of the partner (where the mother/adopter has not curtailed her leave and pay)

1) Where P dies before M/A has curtailed her maternity leave, M/A will not be entitled to opt into SPL and ShPP. Since M’s entitlement to SPL requires that she shares the care of the child with P at the date of the child’s birth (or the adopter’s entitlement requires sharing care at the date of placement), she would not be eligible to opt into SPL with a new partner.

2) An M who had given notice to curtail her maternity/adoption leave and pay may revoke that notice on the death of P, if the date of curtailment had not yet passed (and she had not already returned to work early). She will not be able to opt into SPL at a later date as eligibility is dependent upon her sharing the leave with the P with whom she shared responsibility at the time of the child’s birth/placement. If M has already returned to work but not opted into SPL and ShPP, she would not be entitled to opt in (i.e. give a notice of entitlement) after P’s death.

3) Where P dies after M has given a notice of entitlement to take SPL, any SPL allocated to P would default to M/A. She will need to notify her employer of the additional weeks. Where she had used her cap of 3 notifications, she will acquire a statutory right to a 4th notification to book leave. The 8 weeks’ notification period does not apply for the first period of booked leave, or a variation to a period of booked leave, following P’s death; instead, M is required to tell her employer as soon as is reasonably practicable and provide the date of her partner’s death. Statutory Paternity Leave/Pay and Shared Parental Leave/Pay The introduction of Shared Parental Pay and Leave does not affect entitlement to the 2 week Statutory Paternity Pay and Leave. The partner will be entitled to this if the qualifying conditions are met but the following restrictions apply:-

Once Shared Parental Leave has started there is no longer any entitlement to Statutory Paternity Leave

However, Statutory Paternity Pay can still be paid to the partner after SPL or ShPP has started but not in any week or part week in which ShPP was paid or when SPL was being taken. So paternity pay can only be paid when the partner is absent from work (i.e. on another type of leave, paid or unpaid annual leave, etc.) Statutory Paternity Pay is not counted towards the maximum entitlement of 37 weeks ShPP and Statutory Paternity Leave is not counted towards the maximum entitlement of or 50 weeks SPL. Some examples of leave patterns involving Statutory Paternity Pay are included in Leave pattern examples.


Employee is sick Unlike a mother on maternity leave and entitled to SMP, an employee who is entitled to SPL and ShPP is not disqualified from receiving SSP. And an adopter is not disqualified from receiving SSP during the APP. ShPP should not be paid for any week in which the employee is entitled to SSP. The normal SSP rules will apply. There is no barrier to an employee who is on SPL and not in receipt of ShPP for that week being paid SSP if he or she is both sick and caring for the child.


Shared Parental Leave In Touch (SPLIT) days

1) While on SPL/ShPP an employee may carry out work for an employer during a period of shared parental leave without bringing the period of leave to an end. Each employee is entitled to up to 20 days – Shared Parental Leave In Touch days – during which the employee may work under the contract of employment (or undertake training or any activity undertaken for the purposes of keeping in touch with the workplace). The 20 SPLIT days are in addition to the 10 Keep In Touch (KIT) days available for employees on maternity/adoption leave.

This provision is designed to make it easier for an employee to stay in touch with his or her employer and the workplace during absence from work on SPL and to help ease an employee’s return to work and to enable some weeks to be worked part time whilst on SPL. Neither an employer nor an employee can force the use of SPLIT days on the other party.

2) The SPLIT days may be used consecutively, singly or in blocks of any length. It is up to the employer and employee to agree how they should be used if the employee wishes to do some work. But any work on any day (even as little as an hour) will count as a whole SPLIT day.

3) Both the employee and the employer must agree any days to be worked and the arrangements including what work will be done and how much will be paid. The amount of pay they receive for work done is for the employee and employer to decide before any work is done. The assumption is that work will be paid at the normal contractual rate.

4) The employer must pay the weekly ShPP rate the employee is entitled to and also comply with statutory obligations, such as paying at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW).

5) An employee may use the SPLIT days to work part-time or for a phased return to work. The use of a SPLIT day does not have the effect of extending the period of SPL: if the employee takes one week of SPL but uses SPLIT days to work for 4 days, the employee has taken 1 week’s SPL and 1 week’s ShPP (if payable for that week). The employer can still include a full week of ShPP in their recovery calculations where ShPP is payable. 6) If the employee exceeds the allowance of 20 days, the week in which the 21st day occurs will not be qualify for ShPP. The last day of Shared Parental Leave will be the day before the 21st day worked and no further ShPP is payable. Validation: Ref: SPLIT1 Total of SPLIT days must be < 20 (each partner is entitled to 20 SPLIT days) Ref: SPLIT2 SPLIT day must be > SPL start date Ref: SPLIT3 SPLIT day must be < SPL end date


Recovery of ShPP Recovery of ShPP mirrors the current arrangements for the other statutory payments but M’s employer and P’s employer will have to establish separately which recovery rates will apply to the payments they each make. This process applies equally to ShPP birth and adoption. For adoption cases substitute MW for QW. 1) Establish which rate of recovery applies to the employer. If you were an employer for the whole of the tax year before the QW

1. Find the date the baby is due

2. Find the date of the Sunday in the QW.

3. Identify the tax year in which the Sunday in the QW falls (i.e. the Qualifying Year)

4. Total your class 1 NICs liability for that year

If the figure in 4 is £45,000 or less you are entitled to: • 100% of the ShPP, and • 3% as compensation for the NICs you pay on the ShPP. If the figure in 4 is more than £45,000 you are entitled to 92% of the ShPP.

If you were not an employer for the whole of the tax year before the QW

1. Add together your total Class 1 NICs for the tax months in that year.

2. Work out the number of tax months you were an employer in that year. Count part months as whole months and remember that tax months run from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the following month.

3. Divide the figure in 1 by the number of months in 2.

4. Multiply the figure in 3 by 12.


If you were not an employer in the tax year before the QW

1. Find the date the baby is due.

2. Find the date of the Sunday in the QW.

3. Identify the tax year in which the Sunday in the QW falls.

4. Identify the tax month before the Sunday in the QW. Remember that tax months run from the 6th of one month to the 5th of the following month.

5. Add together your liability for Class 1 NICs between the start of the tax year you identified at 3, or the first tax month for which you were liable for Class 1 NICs, and the tax month you identified at 4, inclusive.

6. Work out the number of tax months between the start of the tax year you identified at 3, or the first tax month for which you were liable for Class 1 NICs, and the tax month you identified at 4, inclusive.

7. Divide the figure in 5 by the number of whole months in 6.

8. Multiply the figure at 7 by 12.



2) Recovery calculations Multiply the amount of ShPP paid in a tax month by appropriate percentage rate(s) as shown in tables. The period of entitlement to which the payment relates is not relevant to the recovery calculation. It is only concerned with the total amount of ShPP payment(s). The result should be rounded up to the nearest penny. The calculation should be performed and rounded separately for each tax month.

Part Week Payments Calculation of part week payments mirrors the current arrangements for the other statutory payments. Entitlement to ShPP is always in full weeks but payment of these weeks can be divided across pay periods where the ShPP weeks do not match with the pay period start or end dates. This functionality is optional but if included the weeks of ShPP should be divided as follows. Take the weekly rate of ShPP and multiply by the number of days in the part-week, then divide by 7 truncated to 5 decimal places and round up to nearest penny above [Do not calculate a rounded daily rate]. The balance of any remaining part week payment should be paid in the following pay period. Example:- Weekly rate of ShPP £138.18 ShPP weeks run from Wed-Tues A monthly paid employee paid on the last day of each month. The monthly ShPP payment for July 2015 would consist of 4 full weeks of ShPP and 3 days. 4 x £138.18 = £552.72 PLUS part week payment of (138.18 x 3) / 7 = £59.22 (for 29/07/15 – 31/07/15) Total ShPP payment for July = £611.94 The remaining part week payment for ShPP week 29/07/15 – 04/08/15 is (138.18 x 4) / 7 = £78.96 and is added to any other payments of ShPP that are due in August.

Annual up-rating Updates to the weekly rate of ShPP for the coming tax year are usually announced around the time of the Autumn Budget Statement. Any changes would come into effect for ShPP weeks beginning on or after the first Sunday in April.


Common data items and validation checks Below is a list of the data items and validation checks that we expect most developers would use as part of their solution based on the requirements in this document. It is not a mandatory list and is included as a guide and also to summarise the validation checks and tests from earlier in this document Maternity Leave Maternity leave start date Provided by employee on notice to employer Maternity leave end date Provided by employee on notice to employer Maternity leave weeks taken Provided by employee on notice to employer Must be > 0 and < 52 This value would normally be > 2 and <52 but could be 0 or 1 where M’s date of death is held. Or 0 where the employee is an agency worker. Maternity leave curtailment date Provided by employee on notice to employer The curtailment date is the date on which she ends her maternity leave i.e. the last day of maternity leave. For example if M’s notice says her mat leave will end on 30 June, it ends that day and entitlement to SPL/ShPP arises from 1 July. Return to duty date Date M returns to duty from maternity leave. Adoption Leave Adoption leave start date Provided by employee on notice to employer Adoption leave end date Provided by employee on notice to employer Adoption leave weeks taken Provided by employee on notice to employer Must be > 0 and < 52 This value would normally be > 2 and <52 but could be 0 or 1 where M’s date of death is held. Or 0 where the employee is an agency worker. Adoption leave curtailment date Provided by employee on notice to employer The curtailment date is the date on which A ends her adoption leave i.e. the last day of adoption leave. For example if A’s notice says her leave will end on 30 June, it ends that day and entitlement to SPL/ShPP arises from 1 July. Return to duty date Date A returns to duty from adoption leave.


Start and end dates of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) SPL start date Ref SPL1: Start date must be < C’s 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of date of placement for adoption – 7 days Ref SPL2: The start date of M’s first week of SPL must be > child’s DOB + 2 weeks Ref SPL3: In adoption cases the start date of A’s first week of SPL must be > date of placement Ref SPL4: If binding notice is held SPL start date for P must be > C’s DOB or date of placement Ref SPL5: If binding notice not held SPL start date for M or A must be > M or A’s return to duty date Ref SPL6: If binding notice not held SPL start date for P must be > M or A’s return to duty date Ref SPL7: Overall SPL start date for the couple must be > child’s DOB or date of placement SPL end date Ref SPL8: SPL end date must be < C’s 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of date of placement SPL weeks available Ref SPL9: Total SPL entitlement in weeks for both partners must be < 50 if M’s date of death NOT held Ref SPL10: Total SPL entitlement in weeks for both partners must be < 52 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is < curtailment date) Ref SPL11: Total SPL entitlement in weeks must be < 50 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is > curtailment date) Weeks of entitlement Ref SPL14: Part weeks of maternity leave are always rounded up to the next whole week when calculating SPL entitlement Ref SPL15: If SPL ends in the middle of a SPL week one full week of entitlement will be lost for that part week. SPL week start date Provided by employee on notice to employer SPL week end date Provided by employee on notice to employer SPL weeks taken previously in respect of this child Provided by employee on notice to employer Is ‘binding notice’ held indicator Used to determine if SPL start date can be earlier then maternity leave end date. Date notice of entitlement given to employer


Ref SPL12: Warning - Date of notice of entitlement > (SPL start date* – 8 weeks) * This is the start date this employee is first absent on SPL. The other parent may have already started their periods of SPL. Date of notice given to employer to book leave Ref SPL13: Warning - Date of notice to book leave > (SPL start date* – 8 weeks) * This is the start date this employee is first absent on SPL. The other parent may have already started their periods of SPL. Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) ShPP week start date Provided by employee on notice to employer Ref: ShPP1: The start date of ShPP cannot be recorded if no SPL start date exists (unless employee is an agency worker) Does not apply in a case where the employee is entitled to ShPP but not entitled to SPL – see para 1) of Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay. Ref: ShPP2: The start date of each ShPP period must be > SPL start date (unless employee is an agency worker) Does not apply in a case where the employee is entitled to ShPP but not entitled to SPL – see para 1) of Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay. Ref: ShPP3: The start date of each ShPP period must be < (SPL end date – 6 days) (unless employee is an agency worker) Does not apply in a case where the employee is entitled to ShPP but not entitled to SPL – see para 1) of Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay. ShPP week end date Provided by employee on notice to employer Ref: ShPP4: The end date of each ShPP period must be < SPL end date (unless employee is an agency worker) Does not apply in a case where the employee is entitled to ShPP but not entitled to SPL – see para 1) of Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay. Ref: ShPP5: The end date of each ShPP period must be < child’s 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of date of placement ShPP weeks available Provided by employee on notice to employer Ref: ShPP6: Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 37 if M’s date of death NOT held. Ref: ShPP7: Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 39 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is < curtailment date)


Ref: ShPP8: Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 37 if (M’s date of death IS held AND is > curtailment date). Ref: ShPP9: If SPL ends in the middle of a ShPP week the part week of ShPP will result in the loss of one full week of ShPP entitlement. Ref: ShPP10: ShPP is payable if employment end date is > Sunday of Sun to Sat week before ShPP start date. ShPP weeks taken previously in respect of this child Provided by employee on notice to employer SMP / Maternity Allowance SMP/MA start date Provided by employee on notice to employer SMP/MA end date Provided by employee on notice to employer SMP/MA weeks already paid Provided by employee on notice to employer Must be > 0 and < 39 MPP/MAP curtailment date The curtailment date is the last day of the SMP/MA pay week in which the date of curtailment falls. For example if M’s notice says her SMP/MA pay will end on 30 June, it ends on the last day of the SMP pay week and entitlement to ShPP arises from the day following the last day of the last SMP/MA pay week. Notice date for curtailment of maternity pay End of the pay week in which the notice is given to the employer. Child’s date of birth Provided by employee on notice to employer Expected due date of child Provided by employee on notice to employer Expected Week of Childbirth Week commencing on the Sunday on or before Expected due date of child Qualifying Week The Sunday 15 weeks before the Sunday of the Expected Week of Childbirth SAP SAP start date Provided by employee on notice to employer SAP end date Provided by employee on notice to employer SAP weeks already paid


Provided by employee on notice to employer Must be > 0 and < 39 SAP curtailment date The curtailment date is the last day of the SAP pay week in which the date of curtailment falls. For example if A’s notice says SAP will end on 30 June, it ends on the last day of the SAP pay week and entitlement to ShPP arises from the day following the last day of the last SAP pay week. Notice date for curtailment of SAP End of the pay week in which notice is given to employer Date of placement Provided by employee on notice to employer Matching week Sunday on or before the date the couple were matched with a child Changes that can affect entitlement to SPL and ShPP Revocation date Ref REV1: Revocation is not allowed if binding notice to end maternity leave/pay was given to employer on or after C’s DOB (assuming partner has not died) Ref REV2: Revocation is allowed if binding notice to end maternity leave/pay was given to employer before C’s DOB Ref REV3: When binding notice is revoked the maternity leave period reverts to 52 weeks and the MPP will be reinstated to 39 weeks. Ref REV4: Date of revocation must be < (DOB + 6 weeks) (Except in cases where the partner has died or there is no entitlement to SPL or ShPP) Ref REV5: Date of revocation must be < date of curtailment of maternity leave Ref REV6: SPL and ShPP start dates cannot be recorded if revocation date is held Ref REV7: If ShPP start date is held and valid revocation date is entered the last day for payment of ShPP will be end of the previous ShPP week, Or, if revocation date is in the first week of ShPP then no ShPP is due. Ref REV8: When P’s date of death is < curtailment date a revocation date can be > (DOB + 6 weeks) Ref REV9: Revocation is not allowed when P’s date of death is > curtailment date. The (employee) mother or partner is no longer caring for the child. No longer caring for child date Ref NOCARE1: Where No longer caring for child date is < SPL start date then no entitlement to SPL/ShPP Ref NOCARE2: Where No longer caring for child date is > SPL start date then SPL stops on day before No longer caring for child date Ref NOCARE3: Where No longer caring for child date is within a ShPP payment week then ShPP stops on the last day of the previous ShPP week OR, no ShPP due if No longer caring for child date is in the first week of ShPP


Following initial notification it is discovered that there is no entitlement to SPL/ShPP Not eligible date Ref: NO-ENT1 If Not eligible date is < (notification date + 8 weeks) then SPL is void. Maternity or adoption leave and MPP or APP continues. Ref: NO-ENT2 If not eligible date is > (notification date + 8 weeks) then end date of maternity or adoption leave remains in place. (The MPP/MAP/APP will continue to apply for 39 weeks even though maternity/adoption leave has ended and M or A has returned to work) Death of the mother/adopter M’s date of death / A’s date of death If date of death held AND SPL start date held then SPL/ShPP ends on the last day of the ShPP week in which death occurs. Death of the partner (where the mother/adopter has not curtailed her leave and pay) P’s date of death If date of death held AND SPL start date held then SPL/ShPP ends on the last day of the ShPP week in which death occurs.


Shared Parental Leave In Touch (SPLIT) days SPLIT day total Ref: SPLIT1: Total of SPLIT days must be < 20 (each partner is entitled to 20 SPLIT days) SPLIT day date Ref: SPLIT2: SPLIT day must be > SPL start date Ref: SPLIT3: SPLIT day must be < SPL end date Recovery of ShPP Standard Recovery rate 92% Small employer recovery (SER) rate 100% Compensation recovery rate 3% Small employer threshold 45,000 Qualifying year The last complete tax year before the Saturday of the QW. Class 1 NICs liability Gross Primary & Secondary Class 1 NIC liability used to determine the appropriate percentage recovery rate. Liability is net of any contracted-out rebate due for that tax year even if not actually claimed. Do not include Class 1A or Class 1B NICs. Total ShPP paid in a tax month The amount of ShPP paid in a tax month. The period of entitlement to which the payment relates is not relevant to the recovery calculation. It is only based on the payments received in a tax month. MISCELLANEOUS Partner’s NINO Provided by employee on notice to employer Partner’s NINO must be provided if partner has one. If the partner has no NINO, there is no requirement for one Agency worker indicator Agency workers can qualify for ShPP but not SPL.

Shared Parental Leave and Pay forms These are available on the ACAS site

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4911


AMENDMENTS Version 5.0 to version 5.1 Page 62, Death of the partner (where the mother/adopter has not curtailed her leave and pay)

3) Where P dies after M has given a notice of entitlement to take SPL, any SPL allocated to P would default to M/A (no consent of P required). She will need to notify her employer of the additional weeks. Where she had used her cap of 3 notifications, she will acquire a statutory right to a 4th notification to book leave. The 8 weeks’ notification period does not apply for the first period of booked leave, or a variation to a period of booked leave, following P’s death; instead, P is required to tell his employer as “soon as is reasonably practicable. In such circumstances, M is required to provide the date of P’s death. M is required to tell her employer as soon as is reasonably practicable and provide the date of her partner’s death. Appendix 1 has been deleted. The draft model form previously shown at Appendix 1 has been replaced with a link to the ACAS site under the heading Shared Parental Leave and Pay forms. The ACAS site has a range of forms and guidance aimed at employers/employees. Version 4.0 to version 5.0 General – references to Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP) have been changed to Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP). Page 14, SPL/ShPP example including leave pattern/dates and timeline The child’s DOB amended from 17th Sept to 14th Sept so that M meets the requirement to take 2 weeks maternity leave after the birth. The other dates in the example are not affected. Page 18, para beginning “The revocation notice….” This para has been amended to bring it in line with validation checks REV 5 and REV9 later in the document:- The revocation notice must be served on or before the leave curtailment date. If M or A has given notice that her maternity or adoption leave ends on 12 July she must serve the revocation notice on or before 12 July. If P dies on or after 12 July she cannot revoke her curtailment notice. If P dies on 8 July, M has until 12 July to revoke the notice. Page 32, Example 1, Change of notice conditions in the case of an early birth The last sentence of the Comment box has been amended as follows:- The change would not still count towards the total cap of 3 notifications on SPL and, but would not be subject to the normal period of 8 weeks’ notice. Page 34, Patterns of Leave The following para has been added:- The following circumstances do not count towards the limit of 3 notices:

A notice withdrawn within 15 days of providing it.

A notice to vary leave due to a child being born earlier or later than the EWC.

A notice to vary provided following a request from the employer that the employee vary a period of leave.

Page 35, Notice Periods for leave A link to the Employers Technical Guide to Shared Parental Pay and Leave on Gov.uk has been included. Page 43, Leave pattern examples, Example 11 Text has been added to the explanation to say this example will probably a rare occurrence and a link to another section of this document for more information has also been included.


Page 51, Example: The number of unused SMP weeks available for ShPP is set at the point the mother returns to duty from maternity leave. The explanatory text underneath the example has been amended to match in with the results table i.e. 3 weeks (not 2) of SMP were paid and the total of SMP and ShPP paid is 42 (not 41) weeks. Page 70, SMP/Maternity Allowance Definition for Expected Week of Childbirth has been added and the definition for Qualifying Week has been corrected. Appendix 1 A note has been added to the introduction to advise that the provision of model forms is still under discussion.


Version 3.1 to version 4.0 Page 43 para 1 “The agreed SPL pattern must be in weekly blocks but see para 11 below” added to the end of para 1. Page 43, para 2 Validation: Ref SPL1 changed to Start date must be < C’s 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of date of placement for adoption – 7 days Previously this validation check advised that the latest possible start date was the day before the child’s 1st birthday or the 1st anniversary of the date of placement. Individual days of SPL could exist at the end of a period if the employee returns to work earlier than agreed and in the middle of an SPL week, but the agreed pattern of leave must be in complete weeks. Therefore the latest start date would be 7 days before the 1st birthday or 1st anniversary of placement. Page 61, Death of the mother/adopter Underlined text added 2) Where M dies without having curtailed her maternity leave or pay or adoption leave or pay, an eligible P is entitled to take up to 52 weeks of SPL and 39 weeks of ShPP if P and M/A would have met the qualifying conditions had M/A not died. The 8 weeks’ notice requirement does not apply. Any maternity or adoption leave/pay taken by M/A before death would still need to be deducted from the weeks available to P. New para 4) added 4) If the mother had curtailed her maternity leave period before her death by giving notice to her employer and then revoked that curtailment, any SPL/ShPP pay taken by P prior to the curtailment would also need to be deducted from the weeks available to P after M’s death. Common data items and validation checks Page 66 Maternity leave weeks taken (provided by employee on notice to employer) Changed from “Must be > 2 and < 52” to “Must be > 0 and < 52” This value would normally be > 2 and <52 but could be 0 or 1 where M’s date of death is held. Or 0 where the employee is an agency worker.” Adoption leave weeks taken (provided by employee on notice to employer) Changed from “Must be > 2 and < 52” to “Must be > 0 and < 52” This value would normally be > 2 and <52 but could be 0 or 1 where M’s date of death is held. Or 0 where the employee is an agency worker.”


Version 3.0 to version 3.1 Other Statutory Payment changes for the 2015/16 tax year Page 5, 4th para replaced by para below:- The first 6 weeks of SAP will be paid at 90% of the average weekly earnings. After that SAP will be paid at the lower of either the weekly standard rate or 90% average weekly earnings. This will mirror the current arrangements for SMP. This applies to all Adoption Pay Periods (39 week APP) which start on or after 5 April 2015.


Version 2.0 to version 3.0 General - references to ShPL have been changed to SPL to fall in line with employer guidance on Gov.uk Introduction Link to employer technical guidance included. Effective date for SPL/ShPP Babies due or children placed for adoption on or after 5th April will qualify for SPL/ShPP. This is a change to previous advice that children matched for adoption on or after 5th April qualify. Other Statutory Payment changes for the 2015/16 tax year 2nd para – text added to say that Statutory Adoption Leave will become a day 1 right where the matching for adoption is notified to the employer on or after 5th April 2015. 4th para – amended as shown by underlined text: The first 6 weeks of SAP where the pay period starts after 5 April will be paid at 90% of the average weekly earnings. After that SAP will be paid at the lower of either the weekly standard rate or 90% average weekly earnings. This will mirror the current arrangements for SMP. 6th para amended as shown by underlined text: Intended parents in surrogacy cases where the child is due on or after 5 April 2015, who intend to apply and are eligible to obtain a Parental Order (Parental Order Parents) will become eligible for time off for up to 2 ante-natal appointments, statutory adoption leave and pay and, if eligible, shared parental leave and pay. Overview of Shared Parental Leave and Pay, Page 8, para 4) Added “Maternity leave and pay does not have to be curtailed on the same date.” Page 8, para 6) Wording amendments as follows:- Where M or A provides her employer with notice that she will end her maternity or adoption leave and SMP or MA (or SAP) on a future date the balance of untaken maternity leave and SMP or MA can be taken as SPL or ShPP. This allows P to start SPL/ShPP at any time from C’s DOB onwards (or the date of placement of an adopted child), even if M is still on maternity leave (or A on adoption leave). In cases involving adoptions from overseas, an adopter can take SPL/ShPP from the point at which the child enters Great Britain. However, in most cases of birth and adoption it is unlikely that SPL/ShPP will be taken in the first two weeks as P is likely to take paternity leave. Examples of entitlement and how SPL/ShPP can be used, page 10 Carol, Ross and Susan example deleted. Various other wording changes have been made to the other examples to aid clarity. SPL/ShPP example including leave pattern/dates and timeline, page 14 Example changed to so that P gives the entitlement and booking notices on the same date. They do not have to be given on the same date but this will probably the most common scenario. Shared Parental Leave (SPL) Summary, page 16 Underlined text added to following para:-


If M or A has more than one employer, then she needs to submit curtailment and entitlement notices, or a declaration that P has submitted an entitlement notice to SPL, to each employer at the same time. Binding nature of a curtailment notice, page 17 Underlined text added:- (a) Neither M nor P is entitled to either shared parental leave or ShPP. (b) P dies. In the event of the death of P, M or A can revoke her curtailment notice within a reasonable time (the term ’reasonable’ is not defined in the regs). In addition, for birth mothers only, page 17 Underlined text added to para below:- Where a mother/adopter revokes her notice to curtail maternity/adoption leave, the maternity or adoption leave period reverts to 52 weeks and the MPP or MAP reverts to 39 weeks. In the event of revocation in (b) or (c) the total amount of maternity or adoption leave and SPL combined can exceed 52 weeks and the total amount of SMP/MA/SAP and ShPP combined can exceed 39 weeks. Entitlement In relation to the employee (E), page 19 Underlined text added to 4th bullet

E has complied with the requirements to notify his or her employer of entitlement to shared parental leave, including a signed declaration from both E and P (see below);

Entitlement / In relation to the Other Parent, page 20

Underlines text added to 2nd bullet:-

The other parent will provide a declaration saying that they meet the requirements above and consent to E taking SPL. The employer is not required to check this information (see notice requirements below). Calculating how much SPL is available, page 20 Underlined text added to 1st bullet:-

The number of weeks of maternity/adoption leave taken before curtailment/return to work; Following para added underneath 3rd bullet:- The partner’s employer may require him to be absent on the shared parental leave he (or she) has booked for up to 8 weeks from the date on which the employer is informed of the revocation if that revocation happens either:

• while the partner is on shared parental leave, or • within 8 weeks of a booked period of shared parental leave being due to start.

This is to enable the employer to have 8 weeks to stand down the cover arrangements that it might have put in place in anticipation of the employee’s absence on shared parental leave. This period of absence is subject to negotiation so the employer may agree a shorter period of notice before the employee’s return to work. If the employer requires the employee to be absent, the absence is treated as shared parental leave (even though there is no entitlement). Checks required by the employer, page 23 Para amended as follows:- Whilst there is no obligation on the employer to do so, it is expected that the employer will check that their employee does in fact meet the continuity of employment test (the 26 week employment rule) and the average weekly earnings requirement (for ShPP). However, if M qualified for SMP and P qualified for paternity leave/pay they will have already met these requirements. Note that to qualify for


SPL and ShPP there is also an additional requirement that they are still working for their employer into the week (Sun to Sat) before SPL/ShPP is due to start. Shared Parental Pay Summary, page 25, para 2) Underlined text has been added “The amount of ShPP available will normally be equivalent to the amount of untaken SMP or MA at the end of the pay week in which M returns to work (without curtailing her maternity pay or allowance period) or, where she has given notice to curtail her maternity pay or adoption period, on the date of curtailment up to a maximum of 37 weeks (except in the circumstances where the M dies having taken fewer than 2 weeks of maternity leave or, in the case of an agency worker or a self-employed mother, under 2 weeks of SMP or MA). IMPORTANT: Also in para 2 is the description of the curtailment date. The rules around the curtailment date have been revised and this para has been re-written:- The curtailment date of the MPP or APP is the last day of the pay week in which M (or A) ends her SMP/MA (or SAP). If M’s (or A’s) notice says her SMP/MA (or SAP) will end on 30 June, it ends on the last day of the pay week in which 30 June falls. Entitlement to SPL/ShPP arises from the first day following the end of the SMP or SAP pay week. If the curtailment date is in the middle of an SMP/MA week then the last day for payment of SMP/MA would be the end of the SMP/MA week in which the curtailment date occurs.

Para 4), page 25 Para below replaced previous para 4: Whilst there is no obligation on the employer to do so, it is expected that the employer will check that their employee does in fact meet the continuity of employment test (the 26 week employment rule) and the average weekly earnings requirement (for ShPP). Note that to qualify for SPL and ShPP there is an additional requirement that they are still working for their employer into the week (Sun to Sat) before SPL/ShPP is due to start. Detail Entitlement to ShPP (birth), page 26 Para in bold text amended as follows (underlined text):-

The calculation method for normal weekly earnings (also known as average weekly earnings) mirrors the process used for SMP/SPP. If the employee was entitled to SMP/SPP they would meet the continuity of employment and normal weekly earnings requirements for ShPP (but note the additional requirement to be employed by the same employer in the week (Sun-Sat) before the first payment of ShPP becomes payable).

Entitlement to ShPP (birth), AND that the other parent, page 27 Third point added to requirements:-

- has made a declaration confirming eligibility and consent Detail, Entitlement to ShPP (adoption), AND that the other parent, page 28 Third point added to requirements:-

- has made a declaration confirming eligibility and consent Calculating the number of week’s entitlement to ShPP, page 29 Underlined text added to the note: NB: There are some circumstances in which the total number of weeks of SMP/MA or SAP and ShPP combined paid to M or A and P would exceed 39 weeks. Where M or A returned to work without curtailing/reducing her MPP or MAP or APP and further payments of SMP or MA or SAP were made for subsequent absence from work during the MPP or MAP or APP (e.g. due to sick leave)


before the mother/adopter ended her MPP, MAP or AAP, or where a mother revokes curtailment of MPP, MAP or AAP due to the death of the partner, the total weeks of payment of SMP/MA or SAP and ShPP in respect of the child may be greater than 39 weeks. The following para has also been added to the end of this section: Where a mother or adopter revokes curtailment of maternity/adoption leave and pay or allowance because her partner has died, her MAP or MPP reverts to 39 continuous weeks from the date it started, regardless of any weeks of ShPP her partner may have taken. Work during period of payment of ShPP, Example 1, page 30 Example 1 amended to show that the M will receive maternity leave for both employments but only qualifies for SMP/SPL/ShPP in Employment 1. Work during period of payment of ShPP, Example 3, page 31 Confirmation added that the employee can get more than one lot of ShPP Patterns of Leave, page 34 Underlined text has been added:- An employee may increase of decrease the number of weeks of SPL and ShPP accruing to them by transferring leave and pay to or from their partner, with consent of both parents, so long as the overall total does not exceed the total available to them jointly. Each parent must inform their employer of a change in the number of weeks of SPL and ShPP that he or she intends to take. This transfer of leave between the partners does not count towards the cap of 3 notices to book leave. So, an employee is entitled to take up to 3 separate blocks of leave without requiring the agreement of the employer. More periods can be taken with the consent of the employer. Notice Periods for leave, page 35 Underlined text added:- Following submission of a notice to “book” discontinuous weeks of leave, there is a 2 week discussion period during which the employee may withdraw the notice without penalty if no agreement is reached or if the employer refuses or does not respond (i.e. the notice does not count against the cap of 3 and no requirement to take SPL or ShPP arises). Flowchart, page 36 Following a change to the regulations where a single block of leave is booked, the employee is entitled and there is no discussion period and the employee cannot withdraw the notice. Also, if the employer agrees to discontinuous weeks, or proposes an alternative that the employee agrees, there can be no withdrawal. Therefore the withdrawal after agreement stage of the flowchart has been deleted. Start and end dates of Shared Parental Leave (SPL), Para 3), page 43 Underlined text added to 8th bullet:

In fostering for adoption, adoption leave can be taken in the same way as when a child is matched for adoption – it can start up to 14 days before placement, but must start no later than the placement date. So A and P can begin SPL from the placement.

Para 7) page 44 Text amended as follows to match the validation check SPL8 below it in the document:- 6) The end date of SPL (and ShPP) must be before cannot be later than the child’s first birthday or 1st anniversary of the date of placement for adoption.


Para 8) page 45 Underlined text added to following para: In cases (restricted to birth cases) where the SPL is triggered for the second time (following revocation of curtailment notice within 6 weeks of the birth) the number of weeks SPL and ShPP taken by the by P in the first occurrence (including up to 8 weeks of leave that P’s employer may require him to take following M’s revocation) must be deducted from the weeks available in the second occurrence. Underlined text added to following para: So the software will need to link SPL/ShPP records from all occurrences of SPL relating to the same child’s DOB. If M’s employer’s software does not hold a record of any SPL/ShPP weeks taken by P in a previous occurrence (where M gave notice to curtail then revoked), P will need to record the weeks taken on the entitlement notice for the second occurrence. Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) Para 1) page 47 2nd bullet point added Para 4) page 47 Underlined text added following change to regs:- 4) For entitlement to ShPP to arise the mother’s maternity leave and pay/allowance (or adopter’s adoption pay) must have ended before the end of the 39 week MPP/MAP/APP, or binding notice to end the maternity leave and pay/allowance at a future date (within the 39 week period for pay/allowance) must have been given by the mother to her employer (or the adopter to his or her employer). The MPP/MAP/APP will end on the last day of the SMP/MA/SAP pay week in which notice to end the period takes effect. This will be the curtailment date of statutory pay. Para 8), page 49 This is a new para and validation requirement. Example: The number of unused SMP weeks available for ShPP is set at the point the mother returns to duty from maternity leave, page 50 SMP is now paid in Week 24 as a result of change described below. Underlined text added in the “Explanation” for this example:- However, at the start of week 24 she gives notice to her employer to end the MPP and opt into SPL/ShPP with her partner. Her MPP ends at the end of the SMP/MA pay week in which she gives the notice to end her MPP/MAP/APP so she can now be paid SSP for week 25-26 Para 8), 4th bullet, page 51 Underlined text added:-

Total weeks of SMP or maternity allowance claimed by M (or SAP claimed by A) before returning to work or curtailing/ending maternity (adoption) leave

Para 9), page 51 Underlined text added:- 9) There is likely to be a number of periods where payment of ShPP starts and stops depending on the pattern of leave and pay so multiple entries for periods of ShPP payment will be required. The weeks used in each period will need to be totalled and checked against the total leave entitlement for the employee to ensure the maximum number of weeks to which the employee is eligible is not exceeded. In addition, the total number of weeks available to the employee can increase or decrease (within the overall total jointly available) if the parents transfer leave and pay entitlement between themselves. For example when there is a change to the original pattern of leave.


Changes that can affect entitlement to SPL and ShPP Notice to end maternity or adoption leave is revoked Para 1) i), page 53 Underlined text added:- In the 8 weeks after giving the notice where they discover that neither M or P is entitled to either shared parental leave or ShPP. M may also revoke her notice to reduce her MPP or MAP in (ii) and (iii) above. If neither M nor P are entitled to either SPL or ShPP then M had no entitlement to end her MPP/MAP/APP so the notice is invalid and does not need to be revoked. Revocation of curtailment notice at 6 weeks following birth Para 7, page 54 Underlined text added:- 7) In the event of a revocation within the 6 week period if the partner is taking SPL, or has notified his/her employer that he is taking leave on specific dates, the partner’s employer may require him to take leave booked or remain absent from work on unpaid shared parental leave until the leave is due to end or for 8 weeks following revocation, whichever is the sooner (even though, in fact, entitlement to SPL has ceased). This reflects the current position for Additional Paternity Leave. Any weeks of SPL taken must be deducted from any entitlement to SPL should the couple opt in again at a later date. There is no entitlement to ShPP in such a period of “forced” leave. The mother or partner is no longer caring for the child Page 59 Following text has been added:- M and P do not have to be living together to care for the child, so entitlement to SPL does not automatically cease for a parent who leaves the family home. Following initial notification it is discovered that there is no entitlement to SPL/ShPP Page 59 Para 1 amended to show underlined text:- 1) A mother can revoke within 8 weeks her notice to end maternity leave (before the curtailment date) if it is discovered that either M or P is not eligible for SPL or ShPP. If neither M nor P is eligible for SPL or ShPP then there is no entitlement to curtail the MPP or MAP and the notice is invalid (no revocation is needed). If there is no entitlement to SPL or ShPP then the notice to curtail the MPP is void whenever it is discovered. Para 2 amended to show underlined text:- 2) If it is discovered on or after 8 weeks that neither M (or A) nor P is entitled to either SPL or ShPP, then no revocation is possible and the notice to end maternity or adoption leave is binding and maternity or adoption leave ends on the date specified in the notice. However, the MPP or MAP or APP does not end but continues until the end of the 39 week period. Where neither parent is entitled to SPL or ShPP, then there is no entitlement to end the MPP/MAP/APP and thus it continues. Shared Parental Leave In Touch Days, Page 62 Paras 5 and 6 amended as shown:- 5) An employee may use the SPLIT days to work part-time or for a phased return to work. The use of a SPLIT day does not have the effect of extending the period of SPL: if the employee takes one week of SPL but uses SPLIT days to work for 4 days, the employee has taken 1 week’s SPL and 1 week’s ShPP (if payable for that week). The employer can still include a full week of ShPP in their recovery calculations where ShPP is payable. 6) If the employee exceeds the allowance of 20 days, the week in which the 21st day occurs will not be qualify for ShPP. They will lose entitlement for that week only. Further weeks of ShPP can be paid


if there is entitlement remaining The last day of Shared Parental Leave will be the day before the 21st day worked and no further ShPP is payable. Common data items and validation checks Shared Parental Pay New test added, page 68:- Ref: ShPP10: ShPP is payable if employment end date is > Sunday of Sun to Sat week before ShPP start date. MPP/MAP curtailment date, page 68 The curtailment date is the last day of the SMP/MA pay week in which the date of curtailment falls. For example if M’s notice says her SMP/MA pay will end on 30 June, it ends on the last day of the SMP pay week and entitlement to ShPP arises from the day following the last day of the last SMP/MA pay week. SAP curtailment date, page 68 The curtailment date is the last day of the SAP pay week in which the date of curtailment falls. For example if A’s notice says SAP will end on 30 June, it ends on the last day of the SAP pay week and entitlement to ShPP arises from the day following the last day of the last SAP pay week. Following initial notification it is discovered that there is no entitlement to SPL/ShPP, page 70 The validation requirements NO-ENT1 and NO-ENT2 were not matching the correct text shown earlier in the relevant section of the main document. They were incorrectly showing (curtailment date – 8 weeks). This has been changed to (curtailment date + 8 weeks). Appendix 1 – Entitlement conditions on page 72 Bullet points added for “have a partner with whom you share the main responsibility for the care of the child”


Version 1.0 to Version 2.0 Introduction, Page 4/5 - Statutory Adoption Leave/Pay The text has been amended to confirm that Statutory Adoption Leave is day 1 right, not Statutory Adoption Pay. Text has been added to confirm that the 26 week employment rule will still be a requirement for Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) – the 26 week employment rule has only been abolished for Statutory Adoption Leave. Further information has been added about adoption pay and leave in surrogacy cases

SPL Entitlement, Checks required by the employer, Page 23,

The word “not” has been added to the following text:-

The employer does not make any checks in relation to the other parent. The information on their declaration is taken on trust.

Notice to book leave, Page 24, 1st bullet point, wording changed as follows:-

The first period of SPL may not does not have to follow on immediately after the end of maternity or adoption leave/pay.

ShPP Summary, Page 26 A correction has been made to the following para to confirm that SSP can be paid during the APP:- If M (or A) does not curtail her MPP (or APP) it will continue for 39 weeks even if she is at work. This means that, for example SMP would be payable instead of SSP if she was absent on sick leave during the MPP. Unlike the MPP, there is no disqualification from SSP during the APP. So if a person is in receipt of SAP and is sick, they must be paid SSP and not SAP. ShPP Summary, page 27, Para 9 has been added: If P is the father of a number of children who are born around the same time to different mothers and P has main responsibility for the care of each child along with the mothers, then P could be entitled to multiple payments of ShPP for each child. Patterns of leave, Example 7, page 41 Example 7 “Break before SPL starts” now uses up all SPL entitlement and ends in week 51 instead of 48. Start and end dates of SPL, page 44 The following text has been added to para 4: In adoption cases A can start adoption leave up to 2 weeks in advance of the date of placement but P cannot start SPL/ShPP until the date of placement at the earliest. Start and end dates of Shared Parental Leave, page 47 Para 10 has been added: If SPL ends in the middle of a SPL week one full week of entitlement will be lost for that part week. Example: P is entitled to 10 weeks of SPL/ShPP and agreed with the employer to take it all in one period of SPL/ShPP. But P returns to work early after 8 weeks and 1 day. P is deemed as having used 9 weeks of SPL/ShPP and the couple will only have 1 week of SPL/ShPP entitlement remaining to take at a later date. The absence above would be recorded in the software as an absence of 8 weeks and 1 day. SPL entitlement is calculated in weeks but the software must still be able to record SPL absences in weeks and days. There is no entitlement to part weeks of ShPP, 1 week of ShPP entitlement will be lost for that 1 day. Please note however that the part week could be made up to a full week by using SPLIT days if the employee has any remaining from their allowance of 20.


Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay, page 48 The following text has been added to point 2: Separate blocks of ShPP can start/end on different days of the week. The ShPP weeks don't have to follow on immediately after SMP/SAP or start/end on the same day of the week as SMP/SAP. The start/end days of M's ShPP week can also be different to the start/end days of P's ShPP week. Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay, page 48 The following text has been added to point 3: Any weeks of ShPP not used before the child’s first birthday or the anniversary of the date of placement will be lost. Start and end dates of Shared Parental Pay, page 49 New para 6 has been added. Subsequent paras have been re-numbered: If M or P (or A) return to work in the middle of a ShPP week one full week of entitlement will be lost for that part week. ShPP cannot be paid for part weeks. Example: P is entitled to 10 weeks of SPL/ShPP and agreed with the employer to take it all in one period of SPL/ShPP. But P returns to work early after 8 weeks and 1 day. P is deemed as having used 9 weeks of SPL/ShPP and the couple will only have 1 week of SPL/ShPP entitlement remaining to take at a later date. The absence above would be recorded in the software as an absence of 8 weeks and 1 day. SPL entitlement is calculated in weeks but the software must still be able to record SPL absences in weeks and days. There is no entitlement to part weeks of ShPP, 1 week of ShPP entitlement will be lost for that 1 day. Please note however that the part week could be made up to a full week by using SPLIT days if the employee has any remaining from their allowance of 20. Shared Parental Leave In Touch Days, page 63 The following text has been added to point 1:

The 20 SPLIT days are in addition to the 10 Keep In Touch (KIT) days available for employees on maternity/adoption leave. Common data items and validation checks, page 71 The following data items relating to recovery of ShPP have been added to the list: Class 1 NICs liability - part year Class 1 NICs liability - previous year. VALIDATION CHANGES Shared Parental Leave (SPL) Ref SPL4 (page 45) Validation amendment – date of placement added If binding notice is held SPL start date for P must be > C’s DOB or date of placement Ref SPL10 (page 46) Validation amendment- changed to on or before curtailment date Total SPL entitlement in weeks for both partners must be < 52 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is < curtailment date) Ref SPL11 (page 46) New validation


Total SPL entitlement in weeks for both partners must be < 50 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is > curtailment date) Ref SPL12 (page 46) Validation amendment – changed to greater than start date – 8 weeks Warning - Date of notice of entitlement > (SPL start date* – 8 weeks) Ref SPL13 (page 46) Validation amendment – changed to greater than start date – 8 weeks Warning - Date of notice to book leave > (SPL start date* – 8 weeks) Ref SPL15 (page 47) New validation If SPL ends in the middle of a SPL week one full week of entitlement will be lost for that part week. Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) Ref ShPP7 (page 49) Validation amendment - changed to on or before curtailment date Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 39 if (M’s date of death IS held AND M’s date of death is < curtailment date) Ref ShPP8 (page 49) Validation amendment – changed to after curtailment date Total ShPP entitlement (in weeks) for both partners must be < 37 if (M’s date of death IS held AND is > curtailment date) Ref ShPP9 (page 49) New validation If SPL ends in the middle of a ShPP week, the part week of ShPP will result in the loss of one full week of ShPP entitlement. Revocation Ref REV8 (page 56) Validation amendment – changed to on or before curtailment date When P’s date of death is < curtailment date a revocation date can be > (DOB + 6 weeks) The mother or partner is no longer caring for the child. Ref: NOCARE1 (page 60) Validation amendment – changed to on or before SPL start date Where No longer caring for child date is < SPL start date then no entitlement to SPL/ShPP Following initial notification it is discovered that there is no entitlement to SPL/ShPP Ref: NO-ENT1 (page 61) Validation amendment – changed to “< (notification date + 8 weeks)” from “< (curtailment date – 8 weeks)”. The 8 week period in which revocation can take place in these cases is counted forward starting from the date the employer was notified of M or A’s intention to end maternity/adoption leave and take SPL. If Not eligible date is < (notification date + 8 weeks) then SPL is void. Maternity or adoption leave and MPP or APP continues. Ref: NO-ENT2 (page 61)


Validation amendment – changed to “(notification date + 8 weeks)” from “(notification date - 8 weeks)”. The 8 week period in which revocation can take place in these cases is counted forward starting from the date the employer was notified of M or A’s intention to end maternity/adoption leave and take SPL. If not eligible date is > (notification date + 8 weeks) then end date of maternity or adoption leave remains in place. (The MPP/MAP/APP will continue to apply for 39 weeks even though maternity/adoption leave has ended and M or A has returned to work)

Developers guide to shared parental leave and pay of child during period of payment of statutory...

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