The success of Shared Parental Leave, it's been proposed, will hinge on the willingness of employers to offer enhanced pay and benefits with the new provision. What to pay staff on shared parental leave. _____ 17 Calculating the number of weeks of shared parental leave and pay created _____ 18 Arrangements for ‘booking’ shared parental leave and pay _____ 19 Employees who change their shared parental leave plans_____ 20 When shared parental leave and pay can be taken _____ 20 Further information on shared parental leave … When a Company offers enhanced maternity pay, my understanding (as is the case with extended/enhanced Paternity leave) was that if a partner then took shared parental leave, they would need to offer the same enhancements to the partner. Shared parental leave (SPL) was introduced in 2015 to allow both parents to share the 52 weeks of leave available after the birth of a child. The gov.uk website only talks about Statuatory Shared Parental Leave, which lets you take paid leave pretty much at any time within the first year of the baby. Not so! However, eligibility for SPL and ShPP can require both parents to qualify for the statutory portion. From 1 January 2020 the University’s eligibility criteria for its contractual, enhanced family leave schemes will be changing to remove length of service eligibility criteria. If so, there's reason to be cautiously optimistic, according to recent research from XpertHR and Personnel Today. From 5 April 2015, new employment legislation allows parents to Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and pay following the birth or adoption of a child, therefore increasing fathers’ rights. Shared parental leave pay is £139.58 a week or 90% of an employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Consideration may need to be given in the following areas: • ensuring the minimum two-week compulsory maternity or adoption leave is taken. In the Ali case, it was held to be direct discrimination that a father who took shared parental leave was paid full pay for only 2 weeks paternity leave, when his employer offered women on maternity leave 14 weeks full pay. More than half the organisations … Enhanced Shared Parental Leave Pay, The Dilemma Posted at 09:24h in Client News by tga-nigel If you, as an employer of Domestic/Household staff pay enhanced Maternity pay, but not enhanced Shared Parental Pay, (SPL) how do you stand legally . Shared parental leave and pay. A mother or primary adopter may choose to use shared parental leave because it is more flexible than maternity or adoption leave. Any repayment conditions must be agreed before the start of the leave and parents should be allowed to repay it in small installments. When SPL was introduced, some employers instantly introduced enhanced SPL pay, while many adopted a “wait and see” approach as to whether they would be obliged to also pay enhanced SPL. Below you will find information about the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme. The EAT’s decision confirms that policies which offer statutory pay for shared parental leave during the first 14 weeks after the birth are lawful. There are a number of issues you should consider when deciding whether or not to offer enhanced shared parental leave rights and / or pay, including the potential cost to your business and whether failing to do so could put you at risk of discrimination claims. This in turn will depend on salaries and how much organisations pay employees taking maternity leave and SPL. There is a possibility that an employer may offer more. And then your husband would take one weeks paternity immediately after babies born and then 12 weeks shared parental leave and pay at enhanced rate. The court ruled that there was no direct discrimination, as a male on shared parental leave for childcare purposes is not in any comparable circumstances to a birth mother on leave for health and safety purposes. However, they may not want to do this if they are entitled to contractually enhanced maternity or adoption pay but only statutory pay for shared parental leave (see pay … Shared parental leave is flexible. Since the introduction of shared parental leave, it has been questioned whether those taking that leave would be entitled to the same benefits as those taking maternity leave. While you certainly need to pay fathers and mothers the same rate of ShPP, there’s been some uncertainty around whether employers must offer an enhanced ShPP scheme that mirrors any enhanced maternity scheme they offer, in order to avoid discrimination claims. Similar rules apply for adoptive parents. How much shared parental leave and pay is MY employee entitled to? The EAT held that a failure to pay a male employee enhanced shared parental pay in circumstances where it paid enhanced pay to women on maternity leave, was not direct sex discrimination. In very broad terms, mothers and adopters can choose to curtail maternity and adoption leave to opt in to shared parental leave. Enhanced Shared Parental Leave & Pay. While this case may have resolved whether employers are legally obliged under discrimination law to enhance payments of shared parental pay, there are wider policy considerations which may encourage employers to do so voluntarily. Shared Parental Leave (SPL) gives more choice in how 2 parents can care for their child. This doesn't replace existing maternity and adoption leave rights. Enhancing shared parental pay by choice. The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC013532 7. Awards and competitions Events News Home. Case facts. The article (in full below) published in People Management refers to a Court of Appeal decision which basically states that maternity leave … Shared parental leave (ShPL) is designed to encourage: Sharing of "family" leave between working parents. The Supreme Court has refused permission to appeal in the case of Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police v Hextall. If an employer pays enhanced shared parental pay there may be repayment conditions if you leave your job and you should check with your employer. If an employer pays enhanced shared parental pay there may be repayment conditions if you leave your job and you should check with your employer. Shared Parental Leave and enhanced pay. News & Events. 'Encouraging' signs for enhanced shared parental pay. Any repayment conditions must be agreed before the start of the leave and parents should be allowed to repay it in small instalments. Failing to enhance pay for shared parental leave is not sex discrimination – permission to appeal refused. 19 February 2020. However, the EAT did say that after 26 weeks (or ordinary maternity leave) the main purpose of maternity leave may become child care in which case a claim for sex discrimination might succeed if an employer paid enhanced pay at that stage. News. Shared parental leave & enhanced contractual pay - a quick recap. Qualifying staff are entitled to receive statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) at a set rate of £140.98 per week or 90 per cent of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). application for shared parental leave and pay best meets their individual family circumstances. The concept of shared parental leave (SPL) was introduced and fathers are now permitted to share maternity leave with their partners, up to 50 weeks. Statutory Shared Parental pay - SShPP Shared Parental Leave - SPL Determining entitlement The Maternity Leave and pay provisions for University employees are as follows: - 26 weeks at OMP (full pay) inclusive of SMP - 13 weeks at SMP - 13 weeks unpaid. Since the introduction of shared parental leave in 2015 there has been a debate about whether employers who pay an enhanced rate of maternity pay – over and above the statutory minimum – should be required to treat shared parental leave in the same way. Shared parental leave policy Document type Policy Scope (applies to) All staff Applicability date 01/03/2015 Review / Expiry date 31/12/2020 ... enhanced Shared Parental Pay each parent will receive. It found that a father taking shared parental leave was not in a comparable situation to a mother taking maternity leave. Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Shell are to offer enhanced paternity packages to all employees ahead of new shared parental leave legislation coming into effect from April 2015. Eligible parents who are sharing responsibility for a child can get SPL in the first year after: the birth of their child; adopting a child; getting a parental order if they had the child through surrogacy; How much Shared Parental Leave a parent can get. Shared parental leave: enhanced pay is key to take-up. Last year two cases relating to whether a failure by employers to pay enhanced shared parental pay when maternity pay was enhanced was discriminatory were brought before different employment tribunals. Under Capita’s applicable maternity policy, female employees taking maternity leave were entitled to 14 weeks' maternity leave at full pay. In Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police the Tribunal dismissed a direct discrimination claim concluding that maternity leave and pay were special treatment afforded to … They can also halt their statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance and share any untaken pay with their partner. If I pay enhanced maternity pay do I have to pay more Shared Parental Pay too? Take-up of shared parental leave has been low since its introduction a year ago, with affordability concerns proving a barrier to many eligible employees, new XpertHR research finds. EAT confirms that it is not direct sex discrimination for an employer to enhance payment for maternity leave but not shared parental leave. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has now ruled that it is not discriminatory for an employer to pay enhanced maternity pay but only statutory pay for shared parental pay. The Court of Appeal has now very firmly stamped on that idea. Parents can share up to 50 of 52 weeks statutory maternity leave and 37 of 39 weeks statutory maternity pay, we'll explain shared parental leave and pay What is Shared Parental Pay? So it would mean you would need to curtail your maternity leave and pay at 6 months and declare that prior to baby being born. Shared parental leave allows new mothers to curtail their maternity leave to share up to 50 weeks' leave with their partner. Mr Ali wanted to take Shared Parental Leave so that he could look after his daughter and argued that, because Capita paid full pay for the first 14 weeks of maternity leave, he should be entitled to the same enhanced rate of pay. Capita refused and said it would pay Mr Ali statutory parental pay only. Mostly it’s unpaid unless the father works for one of the rare progressive companies that does offer enhanced pay for all parents. Enhanced Shared Parental Pay. 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