Shared parental leave

[Nigglenaggle]

I've had a look at the government site for this and it's still not clear to me. I (pregnant one!) am the breadwinner, and we already have some children, whom we home educate. DH works part time and earns around £200-250 a week. Our preference would be for me to take part of my maternity leave but for him to have the first 6 weeks off with me, to help look after the other children during the early stages.

I can't work out from the page whether we can have the time off together or not (one area seems to say categorically not, but then an example seems to say you can), and also are we ineligible because DH earns less than £390 a week? This seems rather unfair as surely the people who benefit most from SPL are those where the pregnant partner is the highest earner??

Also, if we were eligible and were to have the time off together, would this jeopardise my 6 weeks at 90% pay?

We are both employees (ie not self employed) and otherwise meet the criteria for paid leave as regards time with the same employer etc.

[dementedpixie]

They need to have earned at least £30 in 13 of the weeks so a total of £390 when adding up the 13 weeks according to this: www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/1/c/Shared-Parental-Leave-a-good-practice-guide-for-employers-and-employees.pdf

[Nigglenaggle]

Ah that's a bit more reasonable! Thanks

[WoweeZowee]

DH and I are doing SPL. I had 9mo ML and he took the remainder (12wks unpaid). He had 6wks SPL when DD was born after his PL and 6wks now I've returned to work, so it is possible to have the same time off. However I think an employer can require the SPL to be taken in one chunk rather than split up (ie some time off at start, some at end).

Money wise it was straightforward for us. I got paid for my mat leave as normal. His part of the SPL was my unpaid part. When we were both off together at the start I got paid as normal and he was unpaid. I think it would've got more complicated if say I'd taken less time off overall meaning his SPL would've started during my paid ML... I think then there's issues around enhanced and basic Mat pay which can affect your entitlement. For that, you'd definitely need to both check with your employers.

Sorry it's not exactly a technical answer - and I don't know the eligibility threshold - but hope it's of some help! SPL has been fab for us - especially the shared time off at the start so hope it works out for you! .

Congratulations too

[Amummyatlast]

To take shared parental leave you have to end your maternity leave. This also ends your right to statutory maternity pay. And while you would be eligible for shared parental leave pay, this is only at the statutory rate - I.e. You don't get the first 6 weeks at 90%. So if your employer doesn't offer contractual maternity or shared parental leave pay, then you only get statutory pay and so you lose the 6 weeks at 90%.

[dementedpixie]

That isn't entirely correct as the mother can reduce the amount of leave she takes in order for the partner to take leave so they could in fact both be off at the same time.

[Amummyatlast]

What isn't entirely correct demented pixie? It's true that they can both take leave at the same time using SPL, but to take SPL she has to end her mat leave.

[dementedpixie]

Maybe I am misunderstanding but I thought that the mother could take time off the end of her maternity leave to give to the partner who could then take SPL while she was still on maternity leave and is getting maternity pay. It sound complex though so I might be wrong. I don't know how the pay bit works tbh.

www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/1/c/Shared-Parental-Leave-a-good-practice-guide-for-employers-and-employees.pdf

www.maternityaction.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/SPL-and-pay-2016.pdf

[Amummyatlast]

Apologies, having looked at it again, yes you're right.

[Nigglenaggle]

Thanks for the advice and congratulations It is very complicated but the links explain it better than the info I found so thanks for that. I can't afford more than the time I had planned to take off anyway (if that makes sense) so giving binding notice of curtailment isn't really a problem. Feeling quite positive about it all now

[MummyBex1985]

Just to clarify, yes it's fine for you to both take the leave at the same time. All you do is curtail your maternity leave and transfer it into shared parental leave. You then take the leave you want, and the rest can be allocated to your partner. The length of leave is the same as mat leave and the amount of statutory pay is the same weekly rate as mat leave.

Just bear in mind your partner will need to apply for the leave and have it granted by his employer. He isn't necessarily automatically entitled to his first chosen dates for leave, particularly if the leave is being split.

As a final point - he should take his paternity leave before taking spl so he doesn't lose it.