Shared parental leave and pay

 

Shared parental leave can give parents more flexibility in how they share the care of their child in the first year following birth and adoption, with parents sharing a pot of leave.  They can decide to be off work at the same time and/or take it in turns to have periods of leave to look after the child.

 

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) can only be used by two people:

1) The mother/adopter and 2) the father of the child (in the case of birth) or the spouse, civil partner or partner of the child's mother/ adopter.

 

Both parents must share the main responsibility for the care of the child at the time of the birth/placement for adoption.

 

Additionally if you are seeking to take SPL you must satisfy each of the following criteria:

 

Eligible employees may be entitled to take up to 50 weeks SPL during the child’s first year in their family. The number of weeks available is calculated using the mother’s/adopter’s entitlement to maternity/adoption leave, which allows them to take up to 52 weeks’ leave. If they reduce their maternity/adoption leave entitlement then they and/or their partner may opt-in to the SPL system and take any remaining weeks as SPL.

 

A mother/adopter may reduce their entitlement to maternity/adoption leave by returning to work before the full entitlement of 52 weeks has been taken, or they may give notice to curtail their leave at a specified future date. There are options available if the mother/adopter is not entitled to maternity/adoption leave, please speak to the Finance Manager for further information.

 

Where a mother/adopter gives notice to curtail their maternity/adoption entitlement then the mother/adopter’s partner can take leave while the mother/adopter is still using their maternity/adoption entitlements.

 

SPL will generally commence on the chosen start date specified in your leave booking notice, or in any subsequent variation notice (see "Booking Shared Parental Leave" and "Variations to arranged Shared Parental Leave" below).

 

If you are eligible to receive it, Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) may be paid for some, or all, of the SPL period (see "Shared Parental Pay" below). SPL must end no later than one year after the birth/placement of the child.  Any SPL not taken by the first birthday or first anniversary of placement for adoption is lost.

 

You must give your line manager notification of your intention to take to SPL at least eight weeks before you intend to take any period of SPL.

 

Notification must be in writing and requires each of the following:

 

You must also provide a signed declaration from your partner confirming:

 

PCI Pal may, within 14 days of the SPL entitlement notification being given, request further information if necessary (for example, your partner's employer's details, etc).

In order to be entitled to SPL, you must produce this information within 14 days of PCI Pal's request.

 

PCI Pal (where there is a suspicion that fraudulent information may have been provided) investigate the matter further in accordance with the usual company investigation and disciplinary procedures, and also without acting in a discriminatory manner in relation to any of the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010.

 

If you are considering SPL you are encouraged to contact the Finance Manager to arrange an informal discussion as early as possible regarding your potential entitlement, to talk about your plans and to enable the company to support you.

 

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss in detail the leave proposed and what will happen while you are away from work. Where it is a request for discontinuous leave the discussion may also focus on how the leave proposal could be agreed, whether a modified arrangement would be agreeable to the employee and the organisation, and what the outcome may be if no agreement is reached.

 

In addition to notifying PCI Pal of entitlement to SPL/ShPP, you must also give notice to take the leave.

 

You have the right to submit three notifications specifying leave periods you are intending to take.  Each notification may contain either (a) a single period of weeks of leave; or (b) two or more weeks of discontinuous leave, where you intend to return to work between periods of leave.

 

SPL can only be taken in complete weeks but may begin on any day of the week. For example if a week of SPL began on a Tuesday it would finish on a Monday.  If you return to work between periods of SPL, the next period of SPL can start on any day of the week.

 

You must book SPL by giving the correct notification at least eight weeks before the date on which they wish to start the leave and (if applicable) receive ShPP.

 

A notification can be for a period of continuous leave, which means a notification of a number of weeks taken in a single unbroken period of leave (for example, six weeks in a row).

 

You have the right to take a continuous block of leave notified in a single notification, so long as it does not exceed the total number of weeks of SPL available to them (specified in the notice of entitlement) and PCI Pal has been given at least eight weeks’ notice.  You may submit up to three separate notifications for continuous periods of leave. 

 

A single notification may also contain a request for two or more periods of discontinuous leave, which means asking for a set number of weeks of leave over a period of time, with breaks between the leave where you return to work. Where there is concern over accommodating the notification, either party can arrange a meeting to discuss the notification with a view to agreeing an arrangement that meets both your and PCI Pal's needs.

 

PCI Pal will consider a discontinuous leave notification but has the right to refuse it.  If the leave pattern is refused, you can either withdraw it within 15 days of giving it, or can take the leave in a single continuous block.

 

Once the Finance Manager receives the leave booking notice, it will be dealt with as soon as possible. All notices for continuous leave will be confirmed in writing. All requests for discontinuous leave will be carefully considered, weighing up the potential benefits to both yourself and PCI Pal.  Each request for discontinuous leave will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Agreeing to one request will not set a precedent or create the right for another employee to be granted a similar pattern of SPL.

 

You will be informed in writing of the decision as soon as is reasonably practicable, but no later than the 14th day after the leave notification was made. The request may be granted in full or in part: for example, PCI Pal may propose a modified version of the request.

 

If a discontinuous leave pattern is refused then you may withdraw the request without detriment on or before the 15th day after the notification was given; or may take the total number of weeks in the notice in a single continuous block. If you choose to take the leave in a single continuous block, you have until the 19th day from the date the original notification was given to choose when you want the leave period to begin. The leave cannot start sooner than eight weeks from the date the original notification was submitted. If you do not choose a start date then the leave will begin on the first leave date requested in the original notification.

 

You can vary or cancel an agreed and booked period of SPL, provided you advise the organisation in writing at least eight weeks before the date of any variation. Any new start date cannot be sooner than eight weeks from the date of the variation request.  Any variation or cancellation notification madeby you, including notice to return to work early, will usually count as a new notification reducing your right to book/vary leave by one. However, a change as a result of a child being born early, or as a result of PCI Pal requesting it be changed, and you agreeing the change, will not count as further notification. Any variation will be confirmed in writing by PCI Pal.

 

You may be entitled to take up to 37 weeks ShPP while taking SPL. The amount of weeks available will depend on the amount by which the mother/adopter reduces their maternity/adoption pay period or maternity allowance period.  ShPP may be payable during some or all of SPL, depending on the length and timing of the leave.

 

In addition to meeting the eligibility requirements for SPL, if you are seeking to claim ShPP you must further satisfy each of the following criteria:

 

Where you are entitled to receive ShPP they must, at least eight weeks before receiving any ShPP, give their line manager written notice advising of their entitlement to ShPP. To avoid duplication, if possible, this should be included as part of the notice of entitlement to take SPL.

 

In addition to what must be included in the notice of entitlement to take SPL, any notice that advises of an entitlement for ShPP must include:

It must be accompanied by a signed declaration from your partner confirming:

 

Any ShPP due will be paid at a rate set by the Government for the relevant tax year.

 

During the period of SPL you are entitled to receive all contractual benefits, except for salary. In particular, any benefits in kind (such as use of a company car, laptop, mobile phone and gym membership) will continue and contractual annual leave entitlement will continue to accrue.

 

Pension contributions will continue to be made during any period whilst you receive ShPP but not during any period of unpaid SPL. Employee contributions will be based on actual pay, while PCI Pal contributions will be based on the salary that you would have received had you not been taking SPL.

 

You are reminded that holiday should wherever possible be taken in the year that it is earned. Where an SPL period overlaps two leave years you should consider how your annual leave entitlement can be used to ensure that it is not untaken at the end of the holiday year.

 

PCI Pal reserves the right in any event to maintain reasonable contact from time to time during SPL.

 

You can agree to work for PCI Pal for up to 20 days during SPL without bringing your period of SPL to an end or impacting on your right to claim ShPP for that week. These are known as "Shared Parental Leave In Touch" or "SPLIT" days. Any work carried out on a day or part of a day shall constitute a day's work for these purposes.

 

PCI Pal has no right to require you to carry out any work, and is under no obligation to offer any work during  SPL. Any work undertaken is a matter for agreement between both parties. Taking a SPLIT day will receive full pay for any day worked. If a SPLIT day occurs during a week when you are receiving ShPP, this will be effectively ‘topped up’ so you receive full pay for the day in question. Any SPLIT days worked do not extend the period of SPL.

 

For further guidance regarding SPLIT days please speak to Finance.

 

You will have been formally advised in writing by PCI Pal of the end date of any period of SPL, and will be expected to return on the next working day after this date. If you are unable to attend work due to sickness or injury, the normal arrangements for sickness absence will apply. In any other case, late return without prior authorisation will be treated as unauthorised absence.

 

If you wish to return to work earlier than the expected return date, you may provide a written notice to vary the leave giving at least eight weeks notice of your date of early return. This will count as one of the notifications. If you have already used three notifications to book and/or vary leave then PCI Pal does not have to accept the notice to return early but may do if it is considered to be reasonably practicable to do so.

 

On returning to work after SPL, you are entitled to return to the same job if your aggregate total statutory maternity/paternity/adoption leave and SPL amounts to 26 weeks or less. The same job is the one you occupied immediately before commencing maternity/paternity/adoption leave and the most recent period of SPL, on the same terms and conditions of employment as if you had not been absent.

 

If the maternity/paternity/adoption leave and SPL amounts  to 26 weeks or more in aggregate, you are entitled to return to the same job held before commencing the last period of leave or, if this is not reasonably practicable, to another job which is both suitable and appropriate and on terms and conditions no less favourable.

 

If you also takes a period of unpaid parental leave of 4 weeks or less this will have no effect on your right to return and you shall still be entitled to return to the same job occupied before taking the last period of leave if the aggregate weeks of maternity/paternity/adoption and SPL do not exceed 26 weeks.