Shared parental pay at the same time as maternity pay

unterkunft

I would be grateful to get some advice from everyone. I work in the NHS and has taken some shared parental leave but my employer NHS is refusing to pay my shared parental pay. 

My wife is currently on her maternity leave and pay and has told her employer she will end her maternity leave and pay at 32 weeks (January 2021). 
I have taken 8 weeks of shared parental leave from the start of December so both me and my wife can look after our baby.
My understanding is that because my wife has informed her employer that she will end her maternity pay at 32 weeks, the remaining 7 weeks of pay can be transferred over to my shared parental pay. 

My employee (NHS) has refused to pay me anything because they said that I cannot receive my shared parental pay whilst my wife is also getting her maternity allowance. 

I thought they cannot do this as my wife has decided to end her maternity pay early (32 weeks) in Jan 2021 and transferred her pay to me. 

At the moment I am getting no income and my employer is only willing to pay me 2 days of shared parental pay after January 2021 (when she ends her maternity leave and pay)

calcotti

This is not something I know anything about but your employer appears to be wrong
https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay/when-you-can-start

You can start SPL while your partner is still on maternity or adoption leave as long as they’ve given binding notice to end it.

Thrugelmir

The mother must return to work, i.e. return after maternity leave for SPL to start. 

calcotti

Thrugelmir said:

The mother must return to work, i.e. return after maternity leave for SPL to start. 

That’s not what the gov.uk page I quoted above says. It says that SPL can start when mother has returned to work or given binding notice to end it.

unforeseen

I assume that she has given them written notice of returning to work? 

calcotti

unforeseen said:

I assume that she has given them written notice of returning to work? 

That appears to be the key question. OP says mother has informed her employer - but is it in the form of a binding notice?

unterkunft

Thrugelmir said:

The mother must return to work, i.e. return after maternity leave for SPL to start. 

This is certainly not the case, as SPL can be taken concurrently or separately. This issue I am fairly confident on. The issue at the moment is whether shared parental pay can be paid concurrently. My understanding is that parents can share 50 weeks of parental leave and 39 weeks of parental pay. 
The issue is whether the 'shared parental pay' can be paid at the same time to both parents if the combined total shared parental pay does not exceed 39 weeks i.e. what my wife would be entitled to if I did not take any leave. 
If my employer is right, it would penalize parents from taking SPL at the same time. For example, if both parents take 25 weeks off at the same time. They will only receive 25 weeks of statutory pay rather than 39 weeks if one of them work in the NHS

unterkunft

unforeseen said:

I assume that she has given them written notice of returning to work? 

Thats right, she has agreed to end her pay and leave In end of January. Her HR has updated this on their end. 

unterkunft

calcotti said:

unforeseen said:

I assume that she has given them written notice of returning to work? 

That appears to be the key question. OP says mother has informed her employer - but is it in the form of a binding notice?

yes, I have informed my employer and she has informed her employer and we both have signed the SPL form. My employer is not doubting when she finishes her maternity leave/pay. They are saying I cannot be paid at the same time that she is paid. I couldn't find any guideline that says this is the case (as long as the combined pay is less than 39 weeks). Sigh... this is is the issue working as a doctor in the NHS and not seeing my baby for 4 months due to COVID. I was hoping to enjoy sometime with my family, but spending most of my time sorting out my pay. 

calcotti

Are there perhaps two separate questions here, one about shared parental leave which you can take concurrently and shared parental pay which perhaps you can’t? 
Full technical guide here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881347/shared-parental-leave-and-pay-employers-technical-guide.pdf but I haven’t got the will to read it!

unterkunft

calcotti said:

Are there perhaps two separate questions here, one about shared parental leave which you can take concurrently and shared parental pay which perhaps you can’t? 

Mainly just the pay as I am already on my shared parental leave. The question is whether shared parental pay can occur at the same time. The government guideline just says it can be shared between partners as long as it is less than 39 weeks. 

It would be extremely unfair on nhs staff if we cannot get paid concurrently and maybe that's the reason very few nhs staff take shared parental pay?