The government has amended admin details in response to employer concerns
When the Children and Families Bill becomes law it will introduce the concept of shared parental leave (SPL) from 2015. The recent government response to its consultation on the administration of SPL gives more detail about how the new right will work in practice.
Basics
Shared parental leave will allow a woman to bring her maternity leave to an end early, and convert the balance of that leave into a period of SPL that can be taken by either parent. This will allow families to take leave during the early stages of a child's life in a more flexible way than is currently possible. Fathers will be able to take more time off, parents will be able to take periods of shared parental leave at the same time if they wish, and the leave will not have to be taken as a single block.
Although parents will welcome the additional flexibility of the new right, businesses have expressed concerns that they will find it difficult to cope with shared parental leave when it comes into force. The response to the consultation tries to resolve some of those competing interests.
Amendments
The key changes to the original proposals are designed to give employers greater certainty about how and when employees will take shared parental leave. The response confirms that employees will have to give eight weeks' notice to opt in to the SPL system, and the same notice for any request for leave. However, when a couple first opt-in to the system, they will have to tell their employers how they are intending to use their leave. Although this notification will not be binding, this will give employers an earlier indication than was initially proposed of how and when leave will be taken.
Another significant change is the limit on the number of notifications of SPL that can be given. It will only be possible to make three requests for shared parental leave, or changes to leave. No cap on the number of notifications was envisaged in the original consultation.
Returners
Employer concerns about having to keep an employee's job open for an extended period of time have also been addressed. The response confirms that the right to return to the same job will apply to employees returning from any period of leave that includes maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave that totals 26 weeks or less in aggregate, even if the leave is taken in discontinuous blocks. This should minimise the burden on employers.
Protection
As expected, there are protections for women who give notice before their baby is born regarding bringing their maternity leave to an end at a specified future point. Women might want to do this to maximise the amount of time that can be taken as shared parental leave. The amended proposals specify that a woman will have a six week period following the birth to change her mind about bringing her maternity leave to an end early.
Parents will be able to take shared parental leave until a child's first birthday. Some businesses had argued that the cut-off for SPL should be 52 weeks from the start of the mother's maternity leave.
KIT days
Each parent will have 20 ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days available during shared parental leave, during which work can be carried out without bringing SPL or shared parental pay to an end. These will be in addition to the KIT days a woman can take during maternity leave. The KIT days available during SPL will be re-named to avoid confusion.
Preparations
The detail of how SPL will operate will be laid down in regulations, which are expected to be published in draft form in early 2014. Once the final regulations are available employers will want to prepare and introduce a shared parental leave policy. One issue that will require careful thought is whether an employer wants to introduce an element of enhanced pay for employees taking SPL and, if so, how this will dovetail with existing policies on maternity leave and pay.
Ed Bowyer is a partner at Hogan Lovells
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