Business guides: shared parental leave

Shared parental leave and pay will be available to parents of babies due on or after 5 April 2015 and will allow eligible women to split their right to maternity leave, enabling their partner to take shared parental leave. Eligible parents would be able to share 52 weeks’ leave and 37 weeks’ pay. Here are the facts you need to know to stay on the right side of the law.

8 things you need to know about shared parental leave

• As of April 2015 new laws come into force relating to shared parental leave which all salon owners/managers need to be aware of.
• Under the new legislation mothers and fathers have the right to share up to 52 weeks parental leave and can choose to share the leave and pay between them.
• The total amount of statutory pay remains the same – 39 weeks for the mother and two weeks for the father – but is allowed to be shared.
• Employers still have the right to recoup most of the cost of statutory parental leave from the government.
• Fathers opting to take shared parental leave need to give an employer at least eight weeks’ notice.
• Both parents can work up to 20 ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days. KIT days are optional and need to be agreed between employee and employer – payment for these days should be agreed in advance.
• Employees are also entitled to take unpaid parental leave of up to 18 weeks per child to look after any child under the age of five.
• The emphasis is on the employee to request paternity leave, but failure of an employer to consider a request could be met with a claim of sexual discrimination.

Useful links: ACAS guide: Shared Parental Leave Forum of Private Business: Shared Parental Leave Regulations Gov.UK Parental Leave