With Shared Parental Leave coming into force for parents of babies due after 05 April 2015, we have been getting questions about how the new system interacts with existing maternity schemes offered by many employers. Given that over a third of mothers work for employers who offer an occupational maternity scheme, this is clearly an important consideration for both parents and employers.
In an occupational scheme, a mother has a right under the terms of her contract to benefits over and above the legal requirements for maternity leave and pay. Occupational schemes vary by employer but generally they offer a longer period of time on full pay whilst on maternity leave (rather than the six weeks’ pay at 90% of salary and then the flat rate of £138.18 a week required by law), or a mixture of full and half-pay instead of the statutory rate of maternity pay. Employers might offer such schemes for all sorts of reasons, but often it is about recruiting and retaining female staff.
Occupational maternity schemes are only available to a mother on maternity leave. Firms may also offer parallel occupational paternity schemes to fathers. Mothers on occupational maternity schemes and their partners can still take advantage of shared parental leave without sacrificing their occupational maternity benefits. If the mother gives notice that she will reduce her maternity leave at a given later date, her partner can begin to take shared parental leave from the earliest weeks after the birth, even while the mother is still on maternity leave. This is one of the big new flexibilities of the new system.
So, for example, a mother who is entitled to full pay for 26 weeks as part of her occupational scheme, might want to give her employer notice that she will reduce her maternity leave from the full entitlement of 52 weeks to 26 weeks. For eligible parents, this will create an entitlement to 26 weeks of shared parental leave. The parents will have to decide how to share those weeks between them. It means the mother would be able to take her full 26 weeks of occupational maternity leave; and her partner (with her agreement) will be able to take some or all of the 26 weeks of shared parental leave at the same time. They could both then stay at home together with their baby. Or if the partner does not take the full 26 weeks of shared parental leave, either partner could take the balance of shared parental leave once the mother’s maternity leave has ended.
So the mother can take full advantage of her occupational maternity scheme, and her partner can benefit from shared parental leave at the same time. And a mother does not have to return to work at the end of the 26 weeks. So long as the couple have agreed that she will take some of the shared parental leave, she can go straight from the end of her maternity leave to shared parental leave once her occupational maternity benefits have ended (subject to giving her employer 8 weeks’ notice).
So it is a win-win for the couple and the baby!
We know that some employers are considering introducing contractual shared parental schemes. That is great news, but a blog for another day!
BIS technical guidance for employers on SPL can be found here.
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