Shared Parental Leave

Parents with babies due on or after April 5, 2015 will be entitled to take Shared Parental Leave

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Shared Parental Leave is intended to give parents more flexibility in caring for their child between the baby’s birth and their first birthday (or within one year of adoption). Parents will be able to share leave, and can decide to be off work at the same time and/or take turns in having periods of leave to look after the child.

For example, a mother and her partner are both eligible for Shared Parental Leave. The mother ends her maternity leave after 12 weeks, leaving 40 weeks (of the total 52 week entitlement) available for Shared Parental Leave. She takes 30 weeks and her partner takes the other 10 weeks.

Full details regarding this new form of leave will be made available within the Maternity, Paternity and Adoption policies in the next few weeks.