Shared parental leave enables parents or carers to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay if they are having a baby or adopting a child.
What is Shared Parental Leave?
If eligible, your employee can take Shared Parental Leave and Pay during the first year of their child’s birth or adoption. Common ways eligible parents use Shared Parental Leave (SPL) include:
- the parent returns to work early from maternity or adoption leave and takes their remaining SPL later
- both parents are off at the same time
- the parents share SPL evenly and are off at different times
Parents can change their minds twice during the year of leave and put forward new proposals.
How much is Parental Pay?
Shared parental pay (ShPP) is paid at the rate of £184.03 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
How does it affect nanny employers?
Notice periods are built into the scheme so nanny employers can make plans for the nanny’s intentions for leave.
You cannot refuse to grant any leave entitled, however, you can refuse requests for separate non-continuous blocks of leave and insist that they take all leave in one block. Keeping in touch days still apply.
Shared parental pay is based on the salary of the parent who is on leave.
Is my nanny entitled to Shared Parental Leave and Shared Parental Pay?
To qualify for shared parental leave, the individual must share responsibility for the child with one of the following:
- their husband, wife, civil partner or joint adopter
- the child’s other parent
- their partner (if they live with them)
To be eligible for statutory shared parental pay one of the following must apply:
- the individual is eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)
- the individual is eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) and their partner is eligible for SMP, Maternity Allowance (MA) or SAP
Both parents/carers must be eligible for maternity pay or leave, adoption pay or leave or Maternity Allowance. They must also:
- still, be employed by you while they take SPL
- give you the correct notice including a declaration that their partner meets the employment and income requirements which allow them to get SPL
- have been continuously employed by you for at least 26 weeks up to any day of the ‘qualifying week’, or the week they are matched with a child for adoption in the UK. The ‘qualifying week’ is the 15th week before the baby is due.
If you would like to access more of our comprehensive guides, as well as all our other helpful tools, contact us or alternatively you can get going straight away and set up your nanny payroll now.
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