Apr 2015
8
Shared Parental Leave comes into force
Shared parental leave has now officially come into effect, meaning parents whose babies are born, or whose children are adopted, on or after 5th April 2015 will now be able to share a 50-week pot of leave.
285,000 working couples a year are expected to be eligible for shared parental leave, according to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
How does it work?
· Eligible couples will be able to share parental leave if the mother opts to end her maternity leave and pay early
· Both parents can be off work at the same time or can take turns to take time off to look after the child.
· The leave can be taken in discontinuous blocks if required and each parent is permitted to submit three separate notices to book this
Statutory shared parental pay will be paid at the rate of £139.58 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower
Who is eligible?
To qualify for Statutory Shared Parental Pay, one parent must be an employee and must pass the continuity of employment test (they must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks at the end of the 15th week before the week in which the child arrives), whilst the other must meet the employment and earnings test (must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks leading up to the due date and have earned above the maternity allowance threshold of £30 week in 13 of those weeks).
Eligibility can be checked using GOV.UK’s quick and easy online tool.
BrightPay 2015/16 has full support for Shared Parental Leave and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP). For assistance with recording shared parental leave and processing ShPP in BrightPay, please view our dedicated support topic on Statutory Shared Parental Pay.
