A new system of shared parental leave has been unveiled by the UK Government.
The announcement follows a consultation that took place earlier in the year over how the system for shared parental leave and pay should operate.
In the response to the consultation the government has announced that it will:
- protect mothers who give binding notice to opt into shared parental leave prior to giving birth by introducing a right to revoke the notice up to six weeks following birth. This is to make sure that every mother is able to remain on maternity leave, if she chooses to, once she has given birth,
- require employees to give a non-binding indication of when they expect to take their allocated leave when they initially notify their employers of their intention to take shared parental leave. Employees will also be expected to give at least eight weeks’ notice of any leave they will actually be taking. This is to support businesses in being able to plan their workforce,
- introduce a limit on the number of times a parent can notify the employer to take a period of shared parental leave. The number of notifications will be capped at three (the original notification and two further notifications or changes). Provision will be made for changes that are mutually agreed between the employer and employee to not count towards this cap. The cap will enable parents to use the leave flexibly but reduce the uncertainty an employer may experience from an unlimited number of notifications,
- set the cut-off point for taking shared parental leave at 52 weeks following birth (or adoption),
- create a new provision for each parent to have up to 20 days under shared parental leave to support them in returning to work. Parents will be able to use these days to return to work from shared parental leave on a part-time basis for a limited time,
- maintain the right to return to the same job for 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. Any subsequent leave will attract the right to return to the same job, or if that is not reasonably practicable, a similar job,
- align the notice periods for leave and pay for a parent taking paternity leave to make the system simpler, and
- publish guidance to encourage employees who qualify under the new fostering-for-adoption placement process to give employers as much warning as possible.
The proposals for shared parental leave and flexible working are included in the Children and Families Bill 2013 which is currently going through Parliament. The details will be set out in regulations.
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