The Shared Parental Leave scheme was introduced under the Work and Families Act (NI) 2015 and offers working parents the opportunity to vary their maternity/parental leave entitlements, allowing for a more flexible approach to caring for their newly born / adopted child.
The scheme offers particular benefits to teachers on maternity who, unlike those in other professions, are unable to accrue paid holiday leave whilst on maternity leave. Statutory Maternity Leave (SML) is normally one continuous period of leave; however Shared Parental Leave (SPL) can be taken in up to three separate blocks, with breaks in between in which the teacher can return to work and get paid in full.
For teachers who are taking or are planning to take SML, this article intends to outline to members how to gain the most from what SPL has to offer.
SPL can be a complicated scheme where both parents must meet different eligibility criteria for one of the parents to take SPL.
Eligibility
Any teacher wishing to take SPL must satisfy each of the following conditions:
- The child’s mother/adopter must have been entitled to statutory maternity leave and/or statutory maternity pay (SMP) or statutory adoption pay (SAP) or maternity allowance (MA) and must have curtailed (ended or given notice to end) any maternity/adoption entitlements.
- The teacher must have a minimum of 26 weeks service by the end of the 15th week before the child’s expected due / matching date (the ‘continuity of employment test’).
- The teacher’s partner is required to have, in the 66 weeks prior to the child’s expected due date have worked for a minimum of 26 weeks and in addition, earned an average of at least £30 a week in any 13 of those weeks (the ‘employment and earnings test).
- The teacher must correctly notify the school (at least 8 weeks before) of their entitlement and provide the required evidence.
Given the complexities of this criteria, an online eligibility service to see if both partners satisfy the ‘continuity of employment’ and the ’employment and earnings’ tests can be accessed at GOV.UK at the following website address.
https://www.check-shared-parental-leave.service.gov.uk
Notification
The eligibility conditions require the teacher to provide the principal with the correct notification in writing and each of the following must be provided:
- Teacher’s and partner’s full name.
- The start and end dates of any maternity leave or pay and
- The total amount of SPL available.
- The date on which the child is expected to be born.
- The amount of SPL the teacher and their partner intend to take.
- An indication of when the teacher expects to take the leave
Notification forms can be accessed at https://www.acas.org.uk/shared-parental-leave-forms which should accompany a short letter stating your intention to curtail SML, indicating the time periods of blocks of SPL.
The following example outlines how SPL can be taken and explains what benefits teachers can gain from it.
Teacher A is due to give birth week beginning 12th of February 2023. She begins her Statutory Maternity Leave (SML) w/b 13th of January 2023 and stays on maternity for 24 weeks until the end of June 2023. While on SML, Teacher A receives the normal SMP rate of 4 weeks full pay, two weeks 90% pay, 12 weeks half pay plus SMP and six weeks SMP.
Teacher A will then curtail her SML and return to work on the 1st of July and receive full pay for the duration of the summer holidays.
Teacher A can then begin Shared Parental Leave at the end of the summer holidays, provided she and her partner meet the criteria outlined above and has given at least 8 weeks’ notice to her principal.
As she has used 24 weeks SMP she is entitled to 15 weeks Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) which can be taken in three blocks of leave. For example.
Block One – 4th September 2023 until 27th of October 2023 (8 weeks) and returns to work 30th October 2023 and will get paid in full for Halloween midterm break.
Block Two - 6th November 2023 until 22nd December 2023 (7 weeks) and returns to work 25th December 2023 until 8th of January 2024 and will get full pay for Christmas holidays.
At this point Teacher A can has exhausted her 39 weeks SMP/ShPP but can still take her third block of SPL up until her child’s first birthday at which point SPL comes to an end. (These weeks will be unpaid as she has exhausted her 39 weeks paid leave but is still entitled to the full 52 weeks leave).
Therefore, by curtailing her maternity leave for shared parental leave, Teacher A has gained potentially at least eight weeks full pay that otherwise would not have been available to her under the maternity scheme.
Teacher A can also take up to 20 Shared Parental Leave In-touch Days (full pay) which can be taken to attend staff development / training days etc. In the case of Teacher A, this would best be used at the end of August.
Some Key points to Consider.
Both parents most be under a contract of employment and must share the responsibility for the child.
SPL is available to both parents who are adopting. Same criteria apply.
ShPP will be paid in accordance with the statutory minimum, a rate of £156.66 a week or 90% of an employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
SPL ends no later than one year after the birth/placement of the child. Any SPL not taken in advance of this date will be lost.
It is best practice to take at least 18 weeks SMP before curtailing in order to maximise the financial benefits gained from SMP.
A period of shared parental leave shall count for the purposes of the award of any points awarded for the experience to which the teacher may be entitled.
Teachers are protected from suffering unfair treatment or dismissal for taking or seeking to take shared parental leave. Teachers who believe they have been treated unfairly may invoke the Grievance Procedure.
