Shared parental leave rights - do you know anyone who has done it?

[carriemumsnet]

One of our Family friendly partners has asked if we know of any organisations or individuals who have achieved success in parents splitting their parental leave rights. Did you do it or do you know anyone who did? It would be great to get some feedback, positive or negative.

Many thanks

[sleepyhead]

Well, we're doing it just now .

I went back to work when ds2 was 6 months old, basically when my additional mat pay came to an end. As dh earns less than me, it made sense for our family for him to take the next 6 months off.

If he couldn't have shared the leave then we probably could have managed the following 3 months with me on SMP, but I'd definitely have had to go back when ds2 was 9 month. This way he gets a parent at home for his first year.

It was pretty straightforward from my end. I just gave my work notice that I was returning early (I'd originally said I was taking the year in case anything went wrong). Apart from buggering up my pay the first month back as this hadn't got through to payroll , it soon felt like I'd never been away.

With dh's work it was ok in the end but they were clearly confused by the whole concept, couldn't seem to get that this was a statutory entitlement and not something that they could turn down, and had no policy to follow so were extremely vague about the paperwork.

Less that a fortnight before I was due back to work they came back to us with a flurry of demands for extra documentation which was obviously very stressful. It was all sorted out though and dh got his first SMP payment on time.

If they'd thought about this in advance and produced a checklist for the documentation they needed (they wanted more than what's strictly needed for HMRC purposes) then it would have been much easier.

There are several men at dh's work who are planning on doing this so hopefully it'll be easier for them.

[carriemumsnet]

Thanks sleepyhead - anyone else?

[CMOTDibbler]

One of my customers has done it twice- she and her dh both work for the same NHS trust, and though the trust were confused initially it worked out great as she is the main wage earner (and in a role where mat leave cover isn't possible) so she was back at work earlier, but happy that the dcs were with their dad

[Surya]

We'll be doing it in 2 months time, for exactly the same reason as sleepyhead's, and DH is also looking forward to spending more time with DD. I'll be working at home 4 days a week, so hopefully it will be a smooth transition!