Shared Parental Leave and Parental Leave – what do you think and know? Chance to win £100! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As part of the Mumsnet Family Friendly Programme we'd love to know what you think about these new employee benefits which have been introduced in the last few years.

You can read about them below - please share on this thread your experience of them and your thoughts on them. Have you taken them up? Do you think you would? Have you heard of Parental Leave? How do you think employers feel about them? Has your employer promoted them to you/ employees? Has your partners company promoted them?

All comments welcome!

Shared Parental Leave - this is for new parents and is designed to give greater flexibility around the first year with a new baby
Government info here
ACAS guide here

Parental Leave - this is unpaid leave for parents to take care of a child's welfare - employees are entitled to 18 weeks’ leave for each child and adopted child, up to their 18th birthday with their job protected
Government info here
ACAS guide here

Both are obviously subject to specific terms.

Add your view and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 voucher for the store of their choice.

Click here to learn more about companies who are working to make the UK a more family friendly place

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

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[AnnMumsnet]

Thanks for all the comments: really interesting!

mave wins a £100 voucher - well done

[oneplus2is3]

I've just returned from maternity leave and didn't want to share it to be honest. After traumatic births there was no way I was missing a day more than I had to with my babies. To be honest I haven't met anyone who is taking shared leave, for many of the reasons outlined by previous posters.

As far a parental leave goes; despite working in a SCHOOL, any time off for your own children is frowned upon, even medical appointments. Colleagues have been refused permission to attend assemblies, awards and special events for their children. Whilst it sounds good on paper in practice employers make it as difficult as possible to take advantage of such schemes

[Princessxo]

Definitely like the idea but don't think it's always feasible. I think it works well if it's planned ie. savings etc. to cover the time.

[Hopezibah]

both these initiatives are positive steps in my opinion. Anything that makes it more feasible to return to work and helps with work / family situation is good. Often there is a company culture that can make it frowned upon to take up initiatives like this so companies should really be encouraged to embrace it fully

[Andanzadora]

We've just found out we're expecting our first and are both keen to use shared parental leave so DH can have more time with the baby, but I'm worried about how we'll make it work financially as DH's employer only gives dads statutory pay. I think many more people would take SPL if employers were legally required to give the same enhanced pay to men and women.

[AvaAmulet]

I like the idea but could not, in the near future anyway, afford to take advantage of it...

[CombineBananaFister]

Shared parental leave may be available but there still seems to be a stigma attatched to and despite what the law says I can imagine DHs work 'strongly advising' him it's not a good idea.

Parental unpaid would be good as any time I have to take off for for Ds illness counts as me ringing in sick even though its not me and then counts towards one of my triggers and could result in disciplinary. It would make juggling work between two parents far easier as I could commit to do more hours and only take time off when DS is ill instead of working only on my Dhs days off incase Ds is ill.

[kayleigh39]

Shared parental leave is good - but personally I wouldn't like to think of me going back to work whilst the OH is watching the baby. It's not that I don't trust him, far from it - but I would feel so guilty.

[gadfly90]

To be uncharacteristically serious: I think that shared parental leave, especially the new version we've got from Europe, is fantastic. Not only does it change dads' relationships with their kids, it gives them a better understanding of how hard it can be to be a stay-at-home parent.

Also, I can loaf around at work way more than I can when I'm looking after the kid. It's so relaxing!

[EasterRobin]

My husband took 3 months of shared parental leave and it was a brilliant way for him to get to know all about his daughter and feel truly confident that he could cope with all the day to day demands of parenting. It's a shame that more men aren't taking it up.

[Ratbagcatbag]

I like the idea of shared leave, I don't know too much about it as I'm past that part now.

In terms of unpaid leave, j think this can be really useful but I'm not sure on how it works. Can it be refused if it's requested correctly? I find that at least at my place of work we have 5 days paid at managers discretion. Mainly they are also flexible about using your annual leave too.
I do think anything that helps parents share responsibility and care for their children in unforeseen situations is great. Unfortunately not everyone can afford to take unpaid leave and would more likely try to use annual leave.

[Laflouder]

I like the concept of SPL, but I think we have got a long way to go in the UK before men are taking this up in any numbers. Many employers only offer statutory pay for SSP, but many more offer enhanced maternity pay, so unlikely that a woman would give up part of her mat pay for their partner to only receive statutory pay.

Similarly with parental leave, while this does something towards changing the culture towards taking time off to spend with your children, unpaid leave provisions already exist with many employers, and the legislation doesn't put any obligation on the employer to say yes, so not sure it will make a significant difference in practice.

[thejetpack]

The idea of both of them is great although how they work in practice remains to be seen...

At the moment, employers (often begrudgingly) accept maternity leave and the rights involved but I can imagine that a father requesting shared parental leave may face more resistance (albeit 'unofficial').

Similarly, with parental leave, this is great in theory but I cannot imagine my employer being remotely supportive if I wished to take this up.

I hope to be disproven...! :)

[Pelsall116]

I think that both schemes are great for flexibility but unpaid leave is financially prohibitive for many parents

[GiraffesAndButterflies]

In theory I like the idea. My employer hasn't done anything to promote it but isn't opposed.

In practice though I would not take it up- I want to be at home with my children as much as possible and DH is less keen (he is more than willing, but fine with the fact that I want the leave more than he does).

[mrsdeedow]

I agree with shared parental leave, sometimes it can help to get the Mum back to work quicker too for PND etc! With Parental leave, I never in any jobs had good experiences, I found employers tried to avoid giving it if they could or find a reason to dismiss you.

[tishist]

Both sound good ideas, though whether it works in practice depends on the type of employer

[ceroooss]

SPL is a great idea in principal but at the moment the majority of organisations are opting to only pay the statutory rate of pay for men if they choose to opt into the scheme. This wouldn't make financial sense for a lot of couples particularly if the mother's were entitled to enhanced maternity pay with their employers.

Parental leave is useful- but I would say that many employees aren't fully aware of it and what the entitlements are. It should be more widely publicized but then the question then stands will people be able to afford it as those 18 weeks are unpaid. In my experience, the take up is very low.

[tubbyj]

I like the idea of both

Be interesting to see how these are viewed in real life, whether using them as a make would prejudice how you are seen.

[Jocelynne123]

I like the idea of both is wonderful but in reality it's hard to organise. I think after being pregnant for a while and a hard birth the woman needs time off to recover but it is also important for the father to bond with his child and the new mum to,have some time out of the house. I'm not sure my boss would have liked me taking unpaid leave but it would have been brilliant as my daughter had 2 spinal surgeries and I had to,rely on my parents to help look after her. Xx

[daisyduke66]

Any balance of choice and flexibility regarding parental leave can only be a good thing. I do think that the main issue facing people would be financial restraints.

[piggypoo]

I think parental leave is a brilliant idea, and is long overdue in coming into place. Personally we have never used it, but I think it can be a useful option for some couples. Not us really, as we work for ourselves, so are fortunate enough to plan our own leave round the kids.

[fazkin]

Both sound like a brilliant idea in theory but might not materialise always. Employers will eventually look badly towards someone who takes too many weeks off

[mumpetuk1]

I think is a great idea

[bex552]

I think its a great idea, especially when the mother has the higher paid job. Its nice to be able to have a choice of who looks after the baby