Shared Parental Leave (SPL)

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) were introduced in the UK to give more flexibility in how 2 parents can care for their child in the first year after birth (or adoption). Employees are entitled to take this leave much like Statutory Maternity/Paternity Leave.

After the first 2 weeks of compulsory maternity leave following the birth of the child the mother (or primary adopter) can choose to curtail the remainder of their leave to share with a partner.

Between the two partners there will be up to a remainder of 50 weeks of leave that can be taken (of which 37 would be paid) all of which must be taken within one year of the birth of the child. Parents can choose to split this leave between then or to take some weeks concurrently.

Each employee is entitled to up to three blocks of leave and is required to provide at least eight weeks notice of their intention to leave or return from their SPL. Generally these are set out by the employee prior to commencing their leave.

The current ShPP rate is either £184.03 per week gross (for the 2024-2025 tax year) or 90% of the employees average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

There are separate eligibility criteria in cases of birth and adoption so to further understand these please contact us with your specific circumstance.