TPP Not for Profit HR Forum June 2014 Presentation from Wendy Blake Ranken on shared parental leave

1. Wendy Blake Ranken, HR Consultant
wendy@blakeranken.clara.co.uk

2.  Overview of parental leave provisions
 Discussion – what are we doing about it/what
will we do? What will the key issues be for us?
 Discussion – what topics would we like to
discuss at future meetings? How will we work
together?
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3.  Comes in under Children and Families Act 2014
 Applies to those with babies due/adopting
children on or after 5 April 2015
 Currently, the Regulations to implement the
Shared Parental Leave provisions are draft – may
change (final version expected Oct 2014)
 New law comes into effect from October - so
need policies in place from then
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4.  Right to two unpaid periods of leave for
fathers to attend ante-natal appointments –
from October 2014
 Maximum time off 6.5 hours
 Protection from detriment in respect of SPL –
also in effect from 1 October 2014
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5.  STAYS
 2 weeks’ compulsory maternity leave, 52 weeks
in full
 52 weeks adoption leave (from day 1 of
employment)
 39 weeks statutory maternity/adoption pay (NB
adoption pay will be 9/10 earnings for first 6
weeks)
 2 weeks statutory paternity pay
 18 weeks parental leave
 GOES
 Additional paternity leave and pay
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6.  A period of leave to care for a child, which
parents can share
 Mother must ‘curtail’ maternity leave first – it
‘replaces’ maternity leave
 Up to 52 weeks – minus any mat leave taken
 Shared parental pay – up to 37 weeks
 Applies in same way to spouses, adopters,
civil partners, partners of mothers
 Must be employees
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7.  Mother takes 10 weeks of leave, then curtails
rest of leave
 42 weeks left to share between mother and
father, to take:
◦ At the same time
◦ Consecutively
◦ With gaps
 For a minimum of 1 week at a time
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8.  No
 Need to have 26 weeks’ service at 15th week
before EWC
 Need to be an employee
 So sometimes, one parent may be eligible and
the other not!
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9.  Mother must serve a maternity leave
curtailment notice
 Mother and father must serve two notices at
least 8 weeks before their own first period of
SPL:
 Notice of entitlement and intention to take
leave
 Period of leave notice
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10.  Relatively straightforward – simply notifies of end
date of maternity leave
 Must be:
 After the 2 weeks’ compulsory mat leave
 At least 1 weeks before the end of SML
 Must give the notice at least 8 weeks prior to the
intended date of curtailment
 Binding after 8 weeks, so limited right to
withdraw or revoke
 At same time, she also serves a ‘Notification of
Entitlement and Intention to take Leave’
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11.  Mother and father both submit this to their
respective workplaces, PLUS a declaration
about their partner’s ‘Notification of
Entitlement and Intention to take leave’
 The notification includes a non-binding
indication of when the parent intends to take
leave
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12.  The names of the mother and father
 Start and end dates of any SML taken or to be
taken by the mother
 Total amount of SPL available
 The EWC and the actual date of birth
 How much SPL each parent intends to take
 Non-binding indication of when parent
intends to take the SPL
 Declarations from employee and other parent
about satisfying qualification criteria and that
will inform employer if situation changes
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13.  You can ask for the child’s birth certificate
 You can ask for the name and address of the
other employer
 You don’t HAVE to do either of these
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14.  In writing
 Min 8 weeks before the start of the SLP period
 Can be about one or more periods of SPL
 The employee can submit a max of 2
variation notices (still with at least 8 weeks’
notice)
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15.  Same eligibility as for SPL
 Notice at least 8 weeks before beginning of first
week, to include:
 Number of weeks SPP that each mother and
father intend to take
 The weeks in which mother or father tend to
claim SPP
 A declaration that information correct and that
will notify employer if situation changes
 Other parent also needs to make a declaration,
including that consents to first parent’s intended
claim for SPP
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16.  Duration of employment test
 Employment and earnings test
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17.  The parent wanting to take leave must:
 Have 26 weeks’ service at the 15th week
before the EWC; and
 Still be with the employer until the week
before a period of SPL starts.
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18.  Applies to the spouse etc of the person
applying for SPL
 Must be employed or self-employed for at
least 26 of the 66 weeks immediately
preceding the EWC; and
 Have average weekly earnings of at least £30
in the tax year before the tax year containing
the EWC
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19.  THE MOTHER
 Must satisfy duration of employment test
 Main responsibility (alongside father) for care of
child
 Entitled to statutory mat leave
 Has curtailed mat leave or returned to work
 Has served appropriate notice (entitlement and
intention to take leave notice; period of leave
notice)
 AND THE FATHER
 satisfies employment and earnings test
 Main responsibility (alongside mother) for care of
child
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20.  THE FATHER
 Must satisfy duration of employment test
 Main responsibility (alongside mother) for care of
child
 Has served appropriate notice (entitlement and
intention to take leave notice; period of leave notice)
 AND THE MOTHER
 Must satisfy employment and earnings test
 Main responsibility (alongside father) for care of
child
 Is entitled to SML, SMP or SMA in respect of the child
 Has curtailed SML or returned to work; or curtailed
SMP or SMA
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21.  No if continuous
 Yes if discontinuous – in which case can
either agree, propose alternative dates, or
refuse – no obligation to state reasons
 But instead – employee could submit 2
variation notices!
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22.  Mirrors maternity pay:
 6 weeks at 9/10 earnings
 33 weeks at lower rate of SPP
 If both parents take off 1st 6 weeks, only one
gets higher rate pay
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23.  Same as maternity leave – benefits continue
apart from pay
 Right to return – front of queue for suitable
alternative employment if redundancy
 Same job if SPL is 26 weeks’ or less; same or
similar job if >26 weeks
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24.  Up to 20 for each employee
 In addition to the 10 KIT days on maternity
leave
 No obligation on either side
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25.  How do I know that both parents are not claiming
leave and pay at the same time?
 How do I get cover for a short period of time? What
do I do with discontinuous periods of leave?
 What will the Government do to help us administer
such a complex system?
 Will my employees actually take this up?
 What if I enhance maternity leave? Do I need to do the
same with SPL?
 Can the father be entitled to SPL even if a mother is
not entitled to SML (eg coz doesn't satisfy eligibility
requirements)
 If the mother is self-employed, can the father take
SPL?
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