
workingmums.co.uk’s guide to negotiating flexible working
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Shared Parental Leave rights will apply for parents who meet the eligibility criteria.
You must share responsibility for the child with one of the following:
You or your partner must be eligible for maternity pay or leave, adoption pay or leave or Maternity Allowance.
You must also:
During the 66 weeks before the week the baby’s due (or the week you’re matched with your adopted child) your partner must:
This can be as an employee, worker or self-employed person. Your partner doesn’t have to be working at the date of birth or when you start SPL.
The key points of shared parental leave, which aims to open up parents’ options in the first year after their baby is born, are:
An employee opting for SPL must notify his or her employer of their entitlement to SPL and must “book” the leave they wish to take in writing, giving their employer at least eight weeks’ notice.
Each eligible employee can give their employer up to three separate notices. Each notice can be for a block of leave, or the notice may be for a pattern of “discontinuous” leave involving different periods of leave.
If a parent asks for discontinuous blocks of leave in a notification the employer can refuse and require that the total weeks of leave in the notice to be taken in a single continuous block.
Your employer can ask you for more information within 14 days of you applying for Shared Parental Leave or Statutory Shared Parental Pay, including the birth certificate.
Acas advises employers to develop a clear policy on shared parental leave and says having an early and informal discussion can provide an opportunity for both the employee and employer to talk about their preference regarding when SPL is taken.
Full information here. Acas advice here.
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