Shared Parental leave question

amsjrt

Hi,

I have a question on Shared parental leave so want to check my basic understanding of how shared parental leave works!

My wife has started taking maternity leave from 1st October 18 (baby born in mid dec 18). Her maternity pay is just the statutory maternity pay (i.e. 6 weeks of 90% full pay, plus 33 weeks of £145 per week thereafter).

My company, however, has recently improved shared parental leave to 20 weeks with enhanced full pay for Spouse.

Can I check:
For my my wife, can she now reduces her maternity leave, say returning in June 19 this year so only taking 32 weeks maternity leave, so has 20 weeks remaining for Shared parental leave entitlement. She plans to work part time after that (i.e. 2-3 days per week)

For myself, I can start taking shared parental leave of 20 weeks, from June 19 onwards.

My questions:
Do I get full pay for 20 weeks if taking the shared parental leave (SPL) after week 32? I read somewhere this needs to deduct paternity leave (which is 2 week for my case) and also deduct the 6 weeks of (enhanced) maternity pay that my wife already got?
So this means I can only get a maximum of 20 - 2 - 6 = 12 weeks full pay only.

Some forum (i.e. mumsnet) said that any enhanced pay starts from maternity start date so if I take the shared parental leave from week 32 onwards, I will not get any of the enhanced full pay as this is after 20 weeks.

I am wondering if this depends on individual companies, so it's best to check with my HR to know what is the policy? The reason is that I would like to find the best option to maximise the pay for both myself and my wife.

Regards
amsjrt

clairec79

I suspect it's individual contract I'd contact HR

HopHop

It will be individual policy. For my OH the enhanced SPL starts from when my maternity leave starts, so I'm taking 16 weeks then going back to work, then he's taking 10 weeks. He gets 26 weeks full pay, I get 6 weeks full plus 12 weeks half so it doesn't make sense for me to be off.

I also have to give 8 weeks notice of moving onto SPL which seems to be standard, so you may have missed the boat.

Good on you for looking into it though!

theoretica

amsjrt wrote: »

Can I check:
For my my wife, can she now reduces her maternity leave, say returning in June 19 this year so only taking 32 weeks maternity leave, so has 20 weeks remaining for Shared parental leave entitlement. She plans to work part time after that (i.e. 2-3 days per week)

For myself, I can start taking shared parental leave of 20 weeks, from June 19 onwards. I believe you can take your portion of shared parental leave at any time - it can be while your wife is still on her portion, or afterwards.

My questions:
Do I get full pay for 20 weeks if taking the shared parental leave (SPL) after week 32? I read somewhere this needs to deduct paternity leave (which is 2 week for my case) and also deduct the 6 weeks of (enhanced) maternity pay that my wife already got?
So this means I can only get a maximum of 20 - 2 - 6 = 12 weeks full pay only. My understanding is that paternity leave and pay are separate and will not reduce your 20 weeks entitlement to leave. For details of pay you will need to ask your employer.

Some forum (i.e. mumsnet) said that any enhanced pay starts from maternity start date so if I take the shared parental leave from week 32 onwards, I will not get any of the enhanced full pay as this is after 20 weeks.

I am wondering if this depends on individual companies, so it's best to check with my HR to know what is the policy? The reason is that I would like to find the best option to maximise the pay for both myself and my wife.

Regards
amsjrt

Yes indeed- check with your own HR.

amsjrt

Thanks all. It sounds like there are variations between companies so will check with my HR then.