Receiving a request for shared parental leave can feel daunting for practices, says HR expert Liz Willett. She shares tips on how to navigate the process
Shared parental leave is designed to give allow the parents of a birthed or adopted child greater flexibility around taking leave during a baby’s first year. It allows them to share the maternity or adoption leave period an employee is entitled to.
It’s a benefit that is valuable for promoting equality in the workplace and in society,
Extended parental leave encourages shared caring of a child and the forming of family and parental bonds, can be used to support the postpartum or post-adoption period, and can lessen the impact of a career break for working parents. Essentially, it challenges the notion that women should carry the majority of responsibility for the care of children. In other words, it’s a benefit that is valuable for promoting equality both in the workplace and society
In general practice, uptake saw a slow start but over the past 18 months there’s been an increase in the number of HR queries received about shared parental leave – particularly among salaried GPs.
The benefits to the individual for shared parental/adoption leave have already been outlined. What are the benefits to a practice? It can help an employee feel supported with their new family commitments, fostering loyalty and retention. Furthermore, it means employees are not working potentially when extremely fatigued and distracted by the change in their home life.
It’s understandable a practice may feel some trepidation on receiving a shared parental leave and pay request from an employee, particularly if they have not received a request before.
An employee can help the process be a smoother one by making their intentions clear and giving the practice plenty of notice to prepare.
However, even with that how can practices more easily manage a request for shared parental leave and pay? Here are some tips.
Understand the entitlement
Under shared parental leave and pay, an employee and their partner can share up to 50 weeks’ leave and up to 37 weeks’ pay between them. The arrangement needs to take place in the first year after the birth or a child is placed for adoption. They can choose to take the leave in blocks, returning and going off again, and they can choose for the leave to overlap.
Entitlement for maternity/ adoption leave and pay has to be given up, if a shared leave and pay arrangement is taken up instead. In other words, employees cannot take both!
Do remember that whatever agreement is in place, there are health and safety laws regarding to how soon a mother can return to work after the birth of a baby, (not before two weeks) which should be referenced.
An application for shared parental leave should be made in writing and be clear about what the proposal is.
It’s important to check eligibility
After receiving an application for shared parental or adoption leave and pay, I would recommend calling your HR advisor and looking up the Government website, gov.uk, to access more information.
To be able to claim shared parental leave and pay, there are eligibility criteria that both parents must be able to demonstrate. You can see the full details of these at the gov.uk site, which sets out eligibility for birth or adopting parents and the different criteria that apply depending on which parent wants to use the shared parental leave and pay.
Do note that the new Labour Government has said it intends for parental rights to be applicable from day one of employment, though currently that’s not the case. This eligibility guidance will change when the law is enacted and gov.uk will reflect the new guidance when it happens.
Establishing eligibility can be difficult to navigate if the parent putting in the application is slow to respond or less than forthcoming with the details a practice requires. There may also be expectations from the employees about what their entitlements are, which may be incorrect. Be warned this can lead to some difficult conversations at a time when the practice wants to be supportive of a parent’s new addition to their family.
In my experience, practices can also feel awkward about having to ask questions about the partner of their employee and are unsure what information they may be entitled to. In addition, some practices can be uncertain which details they can share with another employer regarding eligibility. Here is some guidance:
- It is perfectly ok to ask relevant questions to establish eligibility for the leave or pay being claimed.
- It is perfectly ok to ask for employment details of the partner in order to assess eligibility for the leave or pay being claimed.
- If you are contacted by the employer of the partner to ask questions regarding the application, it is ok to answer them but it is best practice to inform the employee that you are doing so first.
- The parents should make a written declaration of eligibility; no proof is required beyond the MATB1 form or letter confirming placement. Making a false declaration could be considered fraud and a gross misconduct offence.
- If the employee has any concerns regarding the request and how it is handled, refer them to your HR advisor, gov.uk, ACAS or their trade union representative.
If an employee doesn’t meet the criteria, explain why
Unfortunately, on occasion an employee may not be eligible for shared parental leave or shared parental pay. It may be that the partner is not in employment, in which case there is no parental leave or pay to share. Or it may be that the length of service criteria has not been met (according to current criteria).
In such circumstances, this should be explained to the employee and confirmed in writing, specifying exactly which eligibility criteria has not been met and giving them the opportunity to clarify or challenge this. It may be helpful to offer to consider any application for unpaid leave or unpaid parental leave, if the employee wishes to make an application.
Be clear about enhanced pay
An employee may expect they are entitled to an enhanced parental leave payment rather than just the statutory payment. It may be that your employment contracts are not clear on this and they are relying upon Whitley Council or Agenda for Change conditions for reference, which may cause misunderstanding and confusion on both sides. (The Whitley Council system was the predecessor to Agenda for Change).
Unfortunately, maternity and adoption entitlements set out in the Whitley Council terms and conditions, recognised by the standard BMA contract, do not currently allow for the enhanced aspect of shared parental leave to be paid, which means a practice cannot claim enhanced pay back. That said, do check with your ICB regarding this.
A practice can, of course, decide to pay this anyway but it would be at its own expense. This applies in England and Wales. In Scotland, claims can be made for enhanced pay while on shared parental leave.
The BMA is campaigning for a change in the provisions in England and Wales but at the time of writing, only pay at the statutory rate may be claimed back. It is hoped the campiagn it will be successful.
The situation for Agenda for Change is potentially different. If you recognise Agenda for Change terms and conditions in your employment contracts, enhanced pay should be paid as part of shared parental leave, however, depending upon your contract, you may not be able to claim for this.
If you can currently claim back enhanced maternity pay under Agenda for Change (as can be the case for some ARRS roles) you should be able to claim the shared parental leave enhanced pay. Please check with your ICB before making this commitment.
Be sensitive
If you are facing a situation where you need to correct an assumption regarding enhanced pay, please approach this sensitively as this will be a difficult message to receive and may affect a family’s plans for the leave. It is good practice to explain the situation in person and clarify it in writing, giving them time to process this before they make any firm decisions.
Have a policy in place
A good policy regarding parental leave can help ensure that everyone is clear on the process and it is good practice to clearly document what, if any, entitlements they may have to enhanced payments. Your HR provider will be able to support you in ensuring that your practice policies and statements of particulars are up to date and relevant.
Liz Willett Chartered MCIPD is director at Kraft HR Ltd, which works closely with practices, federations and PCNs across the country
