Purpose and Scope
This policy sets out how [Organisation Name] manages shared parental leave and shared parental pay. It applies to mothers, primary adopters, and second parents who meet statutory eligibility criteria, including where the other parent works for a different employer.
Working through related paperwork at the same time? See also our Adoption Leave Policy, Annual Leave Policy and Bereavement Leave Policy.
Policy Statement
[Organisation Name] supports eligible employees sharing leave during their child’s first year after birth or adoption placement.
- We process all shared parental leave requests consistently and objectively under statutory guidelines.
- Taking or requesting shared parental leave will not affect your pay, career progression, or treatment in redundancy decisions.
Overview of Shared Parental Leave
Shared parental leave allows eligible parents to convert remaining maternity or adoption entitlement into leave they can share.
- Leave opens up when the mother or primary adopter submits a binding curtailment notice to end their statutory maternity or adoption leave early.
- The unused leave and pay convert into shared parental leave for the parents to divide.
- Each parent books leave directly with their own employer.
- Take leave in whole-week blocks, either as one continuous block or separate discontinuous blocks.
- Use all shared parental leave before the child’s first birthday or the first anniversary of adoption placement.
- Total available leave and pay depend on how much maternity or adoption leave was used before curtailment. [Role] confirms the final numbers for each case using statutory rules.
Eligibility and Notice Procedures
- Both parents must meet statutory eligibility criteria for employment status, length of service, and earnings, supported by signed declarations.
- Submit formal notifications, including curtailment and booking notices, through [Form/System] within statutory notice periods.
Application Procedure
- Submit a curtailment notice and initial booking notice through [Form/System] within statutory notice periods before your planned start date.
- If you request a single continuous block of leave, [Organisation Name] will approve the dates provided you meet eligibility rules.
- If you request discontinuous blocks, [Role] will start a discussion period with you within [Number] days of receiving the request to review the proposed schedule.
- After this discussion, [Organisation Name] will formally notify you whether the pattern is agreed, modified by mutual consent, or refused.
- If we refuse a discontinuous request or cannot reach agreement within statutory timeframes, statutory default rules determine how you take the leave.
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Shared Parental Pay
- Statutory shared parental pay applies to qualifying periods of leave if you meet statutory earnings and service criteria.
- We pay shared parental pay at the statutory rate set by law, or at an enhanced rate under [Organisation Name] policy.
Keeping in Touch and Annual Leave
- Managers and employees must agree on reasonable contact arrangements before any leave block begins.
- You can work up to the statutory maximum number of Shared-Parental-Leave-in-Touch (SPLIT) days without ending your leave.
- Working SPLIT days is voluntary for both [Organisation Name] and the employee. We pay worked days at [Payment Rate].
- Contractual annual leave continues to accrue throughout shared parental leave.
Returning to Work
- You are entitled to return to the same job you held before taking leave. After longer combined leave periods where returning to the same job is not reasonably practicable, you will return to a suitable alternative role on terms no less favourable.
- Submit any requests to change working hours or patterns upon return under the [Organisation Name] Flexible Working Policy.
Records and Policy Review
- We securely retain all curtailment notices, declarations, booking notices, written correspondence, and pay records in [System/Location].
- [Role] maintains this policy and reviews it [Review Frequency] or whenever relevant legislation changes.
- Next review due date: [Date].
FAQs on Shared Parental Leave Policy
What is a shared parental leave policy?
A shared parental leave policy sets out how your organisation manages shared parental leave and shared parental pay. It applies to mothers, primary adopters, and second parents who meet statutory eligibility criteria, including where the other parent works for a different employer.
Having it written down means the same rules apply to everyone, so managers are not making judgement calls case by case under pressure.
What does a shared parental leave policy include?
This template covers overview of shared parental leave, eligibility and notice procedures, shared parental pay and keeping in touch and annual leave.
Every section is written to be filled in. The bracketed placeholders mark the decisions that are yours to make, such as timescales, approval owners and retention periods.
How to implement a shared parental leave policy with Whale
Copy this template into Whale and work through the bracketed placeholders so it reflects how your organisation actually operates.
Assign it to the teams it applies to so it sits where people work rather than in a shared drive, and set a review date so it gets revisited on schedule instead of quietly going out of date.
Use our templates to fast-track your documentation
Customize this template and 100s of others for free in Whale, the fastest way to get your team aligned.
