Shared Parental Leave and Pay

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is a way for two parents to share time off work in the first year after a birth or adoption. Instead of the mother or adopter taking all the leave, a couple can share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of statutory pay between them¹. The leave must be used between the birth and the child's first birthday, or within a year of an adoption placement².

The scheme works by the mother or adopter giving up part of their own leave entitlement. They end their maternity or adoption leave early, and the weeks they do not use become Shared Parental Leave that either parent can then take, together or at separate times³. Both parents need to meet employment and earnings tests, and each gives notice to their own employer.

Take-up has been low since the scheme began in 2015⁴, partly because the eligibility rules are strict and the statutory pay is modest. But for couples where both parents are employees and want to split caring time, it is the main legal route to doing so.

Shared Parental Leave: up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay to share

A mother's statutory maternity leave lasts 52 weeks. The first two weeks after the birth (four for factory workers) are compulsory leave she cannot give up. Of the remaining 50 weeks, she can choose to end her maternity leave early and convert the unused weeks into Shared Parental Leave for either parent to take⁵. Alongside the leave, up to 37 weeks of Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) can be shared, drawn from the 39 weeks of statutory maternity pay or Maternity Allowance she would otherwise have received¹.

The official guidance gives a worked example of how one family split the year: the mother ends her maternity leave after 12 weeks, leaving 40 weeks of the total 52-week entitlement available as Shared Parental Leave. She then takes 30 weeks and her partner takes 10 weeks².

The couple can divide the shared weeks however they agree: one parent can take all of them, both can take some, and they can overlap or go back to work in between. All leave must be used between the birth and the child's first birthday, or within one year of the adoption placement². Leave cannot be saved for later, and ShPP cannot be paid once the child is a year old, nor to the mother while she is still receiving statutory maternity pay or Maternity Allowance⁵.

One point where guidance documents differ: most sources describe the shared pay pot as 37 weeks¹, while some describe up to 39 weeks of shared parental pay at the statutory rate, or 90% of average weekly earnings if lower⁷. The 39-week figure reflects the total weeks of statutory pay the mother could have received, including the weeks she kept; the weeks actually available to share are the ones she gives up. Where a mother receives Maternity Allowance rather than statutory maternity pay, the combined cap on pay between the parents, counting Maternity Allowance and ShPP together, is described as no more than 39 weeks⁸.

For parents of twins or triplets the entitlement is the same as for a single birth: one pool of leave and pay per pregnancy, not one per child¹.

How Shared Parental Leave works: ending maternity or adoption leave early

Shared Parental Leave is created by a process called curtailment: the mother or adopter formally ends their maternity or adoption leave before using all of it. To do this, they give their employer a curtailment notice specifying the future date on which their leave will end, with at least 8 weeks' notice⁵. The leave does not stop immediately; it stops on the date in the notice, which creates the pool of weeks the couple can share.

The mother does not have to decide at the birth. She can end her leave early at any point, and the couple can then book Shared Parental Leave in the remaining window. If she returns to work and later wants more leave herself, she can take Shared Parental Leave too, as long as it is all taken within a year of the birth⁹.

There are limited circumstances in which a curtailment notice can be cancelled. Guidance sets out the conditions: the planned end date must not have passed, the parent must not already have returned to work, and one of several further conditions must apply. These include discovering within eight weeks of giving the notice that neither parent qualifies for Shared Parental Leave or pay, or where the mother gave notice before the birth and the cancellation conditions after the birth are met¹⁰.

For adopters the mechanism is the same. Where a couple adopts, only one parent is entitled to adoption leave and Statutory Adoption Pay. If that parent does not use all of it and returns to work, the partner may be able to take the remainder of the leave and claim the remaining pay as Shared Parental Leave and Pay¹¹.

Who qualifies for Shared Parental Leave

Shared Parental Leave can be taken by the mother, the father, or the mother's spouse or partner, including civil partners and same-sex partners⁵. But each parent taking the leave must meet tests set by their own employer's situation, and the other parent must meet a separate work and earnings test.

For the parent taking the leave:

• They must have been continuously employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, and still be employed by that employer when taking the leave². For adopters, the 26 weeks must run up to the end of the week in which they were notified of being matched with the child².
• For Statutory Shared Parental Pay, employees and some workers can qualify, including agency workers, casual workers and freelance staff paid through PAYE with tax and National Insurance deducted at source⁵.
• For birth cases, one parent must qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, or the other parent must qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance². For adoption cases, either parent must qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay².

For the other parent, the test is about work and earnings rather than employment status. They must have been working for at least 26 weeks, which do not have to be continuous, during the 66 weeks before the week the baby is due (or the week of the adoption match), and have earned at least £30 a week on average in 13 of those 66 weeks¹². They can be employed, self-employed or an agency worker².

The legislation behind these tests also requires, for pay purposes, that the parent claiming has the main responsibility for caring for the child apart from the other parent, intends to care for the child, and is absent from work on Shared Parental Leave in each week the pay is made¹³.

Where the mother is not eligible for statutory maternity leave but receives Maternity Allowance, the partner's entitlement is calculated as 52 weeks of Shared Parental Leave minus the weeks of Maternity Allowance the mother has taken when she curtails her allowance period¹⁴. The same calculation applies where she receives statutory maternity pay instead¹⁵.

Where Shared Parental Leave does not apply: self-employed and single parents

The scheme has hard edges, and two groups fall outside it entirely.

Self-employed parents. SPL can only be taken by employees⁵. A self-employed mother claiming Maternity Allowance is not entitled to SPL or Statutory Shared Parental Pay herself, though her employed partner may be able to take Shared Parental Leave if he is eligible⁸. Self-employed fathers and partners have no legal right to paid time off at all, and there is currently no equivalent of Maternity Allowance for them¹⁶. A self-employed mother receiving Maternity Allowance can exchange it for Shared Parental Leave and pay for her employed partner, but she has to give up the Maternity Allowance to do so¹⁷.

Single parents. Because the scheme works by transferring leave between two parents, single parents cannot qualify for Shared Parental Leave⁵. A single parent's entitlements are their own maternity, paternity or adoption leave, plus the separate right to up to 18 weeks' unpaid Parental Leave per child before their 18th birthday¹⁸.

Agency workers, casuals and zero-hours workers are not entitled to maternity, paternity or Shared Parental Leave unless their contract says otherwise, though they can still get the statutory pay under the normal rules¹⁹.

If Shared Parental Leave is not available, the alternatives are limited: unpaid Parental Leave (usually taken in blocks of a week, up to four weeks a year, with at least 21 days' notice)²⁰, annual leave, and any contractual rights in the employment contract. The dedicated page on unpaid parental leave covers that right in full, and having a baby sets out the pay and benefits available to new parents more broadly.

Statutory Shared Parental Pay and your employer's contractual pay

Statutory Shared Parental Pay is the statutory payment that travels with the shared leave. It is paid by your employer in the same way as your normal wages²¹, and it is treated in law as remuneration from employment, so it counts as earnings for tax and National Insurance purposes²².

The amount is the statutory flat rate, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that is lower⁷. The weeks available are the weeks of statutory maternity pay, Statutory Adoption Pay or Maternity Allowance that the mother or adopter gives up: if she is paid for 12 weeks and curtails, the couple has the remaining weeks of her pay entitlement to share as ShPP¹². ShPP cannot be paid after the child's first birthday, and it cannot be paid to the mother while she is still receiving statutory maternity pay or Maternity Allowance⁵.

A parent receiving Maternity Allowance on the basis of employment or self-employment who shortens the payment period cannot themselves qualify for Statutory Shared Parental Pay, though the child's father or partner may qualify¹². If you claim Maternity Allowance and want Shared Parental Leave or pay, you must tell the Department within 8 weeks of wanting the shared payment to start²³.

Employers' own (enhanced) schemes. Many employers pay more than the statutory minimum during maternity leave, and some extend enhanced pay to Shared Parental Leave. How this affects entitlement to contractual parental pay can be complicated²⁴. Two things are worth checking in your employer's policy before you give notice:

• Whether enhanced pay is offered for Shared Parental Leave at all, or only for maternity or adoption leave. Some policies pay full pay for the mother's leave but only the statutory rate for the partner's, which changes the financial arithmetic of sharing.
• Whether enhanced pay is conditional on returning to work. Policies commonly require an agreed return period, and may claw back some or all of the enhanced payments if you do not return. The statutory pay itself is not repayable in this way, but contractual pay can be, and the terms vary by employer.

Because these are contractual terms rather than statutory rights, the employer's policy document governs, and the details differ widely between employers.

Taking leave in blocks, together or at different times

Shared Parental Leave does not have to be one long stretch. You can take it in one block or in several blocks with time at work in between¹. You have the right to take it in up to three separate blocks, and your employer can agree to more². This applies even if you are not sharing the leave with your partner, for example where one parent takes all the shared weeks but spreads them across the year⁶.

Leave and pay must be taken in blocks of one week⁵. Both parents can be off at the same time: the regulations explicitly state that it is possible to take Shared Parental Leave at the same time as the other parent's leave⁵. So a couple can overlap for a few weeks and then stagger the rest, or one parent can take the whole pool while the other stays at work.

You can give notice for leave and pay at the same time if you are eligible for both⁶. Each parent deals with their own employer, so in most cases both partners will need to tell their employer that they want to use Shared Parental Leave and Pay⁶.

How to apply: 8 weeks' notice and the documents you need

The application process is a sequence of notices, each with its own deadline. The legislation sets out the notice requirements for the mother (or adopter) and the father or partner separately, but the structure is the same for both¹³.

1. The mother or adopter gives a curtailment notice to their employer, ending their maternity or adoption leave on a specified future date, with at least 8 weeks' notice⁵.
2. Each parent gives a "notice of entitlement and intention" to their own employer at least eight weeks before the first period of shared parental leave⁵. The legislation requires the notice and specified information at least 8 weeks before the beginning of the first period claimed¹³.
3. The employer may ask for more information within 14 days of the application²⁵.
4. The parent supplies it within 14 days of the employer's request. For birth cases this includes the child's birth certificate and the partner's employer details¹³.
5. A further notice is given for each period of leave, at least eight weeks before the first period of shared parental leave and before each period of leave⁷.

The documents and details you need when giving notice are²⁵:

• National Insurance numbers for you and your partner
• The child's expected week of birth, actual date of birth, or date of placement
• Details of how much Shared Parental Leave you and your partner each intend to take, and the exact dates

Where a child is born early, the 8-week notice requirement is satisfied if notice is given as soon as reasonably practicable after the birth²⁶. The same flexibility applies to giving the date of placement after an adoption¹³.

Changing your plans or leaving your job

Plans change, and the rules allow for that within limits. You can change your mind later about how much Shared Parental Leave or Statutory Shared Parental Pay you plan to take and when you want to take it⁶. Any change needs notice: you must give notice of changes at least eight weeks before the start of any leave⁶, and the legislation allows the periods of a claim to be varied by written notice to the employer at least 8 weeks before the first period in the variation notice²⁶. Cancelling booked leave also needs at least eight weeks' notice¹⁶.

You can give a maximum of three separate notices to book or vary periods of SPL, although your employer can agree to more⁵. That cap applies to the formal notices, not to the number of blocks you can ultimately take if the employer agrees.

Resigning. If the parent taking Shared Parental Leave resigns, they remain entitled to the leave they have booked up to the end of their employment. But they will not be entitled to it if their notice expires before the booked leave starts, because they must be employed by the same employer up to the start of the leave²⁷. In plain terms: booked leave survives a resignation that takes effect during it; leave that has not started when the job ends is lost.

Redundancy. If you take more than six consecutive weeks of Shared Parental Leave, you have redundancy protection running from the start of your leave until 18 months from the expected week of childbirth, or the date of birth if that was notified to your employer. If you are made redundant during Shared Parental Leave, you are entitled to be offered a suitable alternative vacancy, where one is available, before other employees⁵.

SPLIT days, holiday and your right to return to work

SPLIT days. While on Shared Parental Leave you can work for your employer for up to 20 shared-parental-leave-in-touch (SPLIT) days without bringing the leave to an end⁵. These are days of actual work, and they do not reduce your leave entitlement week for week. But once you have worked 20 SPLIT days, your entitlement to Shared Parental Leave and Pay comes to an end⁵. The legislation also allows statutory shared parental pay to continue despite work in a pay week in limited circumstances, for example for an employer who is not the liable employer, or where days worked for the liable employer do not exceed 20 in total¹³.

Annual leave. You accrue statutory annual leave during Shared Parental Leave as if you were still at work⁵. Depending on your contract and your employer's rules, you may be able to take this holiday during or at the end of your leave, or be paid for it.

Your job. The right to return depends on how long you have been away in total:

• If your total absence, counting any combination of Shared Parental Leave, statutory maternity leave, paternity leave or adoption leave, is 26 weeks or less, you have the right to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions as if you had not been away².
• If the total is more than 26 weeks, your employer must offer you your original job unless they can show it is not reasonably practicable, in which case they must offer a suitable job on terms no less favourable².

You can also take up to four weeks' Parental Leave at the end of your Shared Parental Leave without affecting your right to return². The rules on returning after longer or combined periods of leave, including consecutive pregnancies, are set out in guidance on maternity rights²⁸.

How many parents use it

Shared Parental Leave and Pay were introduced in 2015⁴, but take-up has been consistently low. Estimates vary from 2% to 4% of eligible fathers²⁹, with one report putting the figures at around 4% of eligible fathers and 1% of eligible mothers in 2023²⁹. Maternity Action's own analysis of HMRC data found only an estimated 2% of eligible fathers used SPL⁴.

Campaigners attribute the low take-up to the eligibility rules, which require both parents to meet employment and earnings tests, and to the level of pay, which for many households makes it unaffordable for the higher earner to take time off²⁹. Maternity Action has recommended scrapping the Shared Parental Leave system and replacing it with a new model of maternity, paternity and parental leave that offers individual rights and decent pay to all working parents⁴. These are policy proposals, not current law: the rules described on this page are the ones currently in force.

Getting help with a Shared Parental Leave problem

If something goes wrong, whether it is a disputed eligibility decision, an employer refusing notice, or a problem with pay, there are places to get free help.

• Your union, if you are in one, can help you understand your rights³.
• Maternity Action publishes detailed advice on Shared Parental Leave and pay, and runs an advice line⁵.
• Turn2us explains the benefits side, including how Statutory Shared Parental Pay interacts with other support and what to do about changes of circumstances¹⁰.
• Acas and the employment tribunal system handle employment disputes. An employer's refusal to allow properly notified Shared Parental Leave, or a denial of the right to return, is an employment matter rather than a financial services one, so the Financial Ombudsman Service is not the right route.

For the wider money picture around a new baby, including benefits, tax credits and childcare support, see having a baby. If your baby needs neonatal care, separate rights exist under neonatal care leave and pay. And if the pregnancy ends in loss, the rules change: parents are not entitled to book Shared Parental Leave following the death of their child¹⁶, and where a baby is stillborn it is unlikely Shared Parental Leave can be taken, though leave booked before a baby died after birth can still be used³⁰.