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Shared Parental Leave (SPL)

Created 01.07.2022

Last Modified 07.04.2026

Policy Purpose and Scope

One Degree North is dedicated to providing a flexible work environment. In keeping with statutory provisions, employees who satisfy the required conditions are entitled to shared parental leave (SPL). This document aims to usefully set out the statutory provisions on shared parental leave, shared parental pay and shared parental leave related matters applicable to the birth of a child and matters applicable to adoption. It is designed to be as comprehensive as possible. However, if you have any queries which are not answered or if you have any questions about the policy, please contact your Line Manager.

Definitions

Expected week of childbirth (EWC): the week, beginning on a Sunday, in which the doctor or midwife expects your child to be born.

Parent: One of two people who will share the main responsibility for the child’s upbringing (and who may be either the mother, the father, or the mother’s partner if not the father).

Partner: your spouse, civil partner or someone living with you in an enduring family relationship, but not your sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew.

Qualifying Week: the fifteenth week before the EWC.

Entitlement to Shared Parental Leave (birth)

You are entitled to SPL in relation to the birth of a child if:

You are the child’s mother, and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the child’s father (or your partner, if the father is not your partner);
You are the child’s father and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the child’s mother; or
You are the mother’s partner and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the mother (where the child’s father does not share the main responsibility with the mother).

The following conditions must also be fulfilled:

You must have at least 26 weeks continuous employment with us by the end of the Qualifying Week, and still be employed by the Company in the week before the leave is to be taken;
The other parent must have worked (in an employed or self-employed capacity) in at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the expected week of childbirth and had average weekly earnings of at least £30 during 13 of those weeks; and
You and the other parent must give the necessary statutory notices and declarations as summarised below, including notice to end any maternity leave, statutory maternity pay (SMP) or maternity allowance (MA) periods.

The total amount of SPL available is 52 weeks, less the weeks spent by the child’s mother on maternity leave (or the weeks in which the mother has been in receipt of SMP or MA if she is not entitled to maternity leave).

If you are the mother, you cannot start SPL until after the compulsory maternity leave period, which lasts until two weeks after birth.

Eligible employees can take paternity leave and pay after a period of shared parental leaved and statutory paternity pay.

Opting in to shared parental leave and pay

Not less than eight weeks before the date you intend your SPL to start, you must give the Company a written opt-in notice giving:

Your name and the name of the other parent;
If you are the child’s mother, the start and end dates of your maternity leave;
If you are the child’s father or the mother’s partner, the start and end dates of the mother’s maternity leave, or if she is not entitled to maternity leave, the start and end dates of any SMP or MA period;
The total SPL available, which is 52 weeks minus the number of weeks’ maternity leave, SMP or MA period taken or to be taken;
How many weeks of the available SPL will be allocated to you and how many to the other parent (you can change the allocation by giving the Company a further written notice, and you do not have to use your full allocation);
If you are claiming statutory shared parental pay (ShPP), the total ShPP available, which is 39 weeks minus the number of weeks of the SMP or MA period taken or to be taken);
How many weeks of available ShPP will be allocated to you and how much to the other parent. (You can change the allocation by giving us a further written notice, and you do not have to use your full allocation);
An indication of the pattern of leave you are thinking of taking, including suggested start and end dates for each period of leave. This indication will not be binding at this stage, but please give as much information as you can about your future intentions; and
Declarations by you and the other parent that you both meet the statutory conditions to enable you to take SPL and ShPP.

Ending Maternity Leave

If you are the child’s mother and want to opt into the SPL scheme, you must give the Company at least eight weeks’ written notice to end your maternity leave before you can take SPL. The notice must state the date your maternity leave will end. You can give the notice before or after you give birth, but you cannot end your maternity leave until at least two weeks after birth.

You must also give the Company, at the same time, a notice to opt into the SPL scheme or a written declaration that the other parent has given their employer an opt-in notice and that you have given the necessary declarations in that notice.

The other parent may be eligible to take SPL from their employer before your maternity leave ends, provided you have given notice.

The notice is binding and cannot usually be revoked. You can only revoke the notice if maternity leave has not yet ended and one of the following applies:

If you realise that neither you nor the other parent are in fact eligible for SPL or ShPP, in which case you can revoke the curtailment notice in writing up to eight weeks after it was given;
If you gave notice before giving birth, you can revoke it in writing up to eight weeks after it was given, or up to six weeks after birth, whichever is later; or
If the other parent has died.

Once you have revoked notice you will be unable to opt back into the SPL scheme, unless you revoked it in accordance with the above procedure.

Ending Partner’s Maternity Leave or Pay

If you are not the mother, and they are still on maternity leave or claiming SMP or MA, you will only be able to take SPL once they have either:

Returned to work;
Given her employer a curtailment notice to end their maternity leave;
Given her employer a curtailment notice to end their SMP (if they are entitled to SMP but not maternity leave); or
Given the benefits office a curtailment notice to end her MA (if they are not entitled to maternity leave or SMP).

Evidence of entitlement

You must also provide on request:

A copy of the birth certificate (or if you have not yet obtained a birth certificate, a signed declaration of the child’s date and place of birth); and
The name and address of the other parent’s employer (or a declaration that they have no employer).

Booking notice of shared parental leave

Having opted into the SPL system you will need to give a period of leave notice telling the Company the start and end dates of your leave. This can be given at the same time as your opt-in notice, or it can be given later, as long as it is given at least eight weeks before the start of your leave. You must also state in your period of leave notice the dates on which you intend to claim ShPP, if applicable.

If your period of leave notice gives dates for a single continuous block of SPL you will be entitled to take the leave set out in the notice.

You can give up to three period of leave notices. This may enable you to take up to three separate blocks of SPL (although if you give a notice to vary or cancel a period of leave this will in most cases count as a further period of leave notice). In exceptional circumstances the Company may allow you to give more than three period of leave notices but there is no obligation to do so.

Procedure for requesting split periods of SPL

In general, a period of leave notice should set out a single continuous block of leave. The Company may, in some cases, be willing to consider a period of leave notice where the SPL is split into shorter periods (of at least a week) with periods of work in between. It is best to discuss this with your Line Manager in good time before formally submitting your period of leave notice.

You must submit a period of leave notice setting out the requested pattern of leave at least eight weeks before the requested start date. If the Company is unable to agree to your request straight away, there will be a two-week discussion period.

At the end of that period, the Company will confirm any agreed arrangements in writing. If we have not reached an agreement, you will be entitled to take the full amount of requested SPL as one continuous block, starting on the start date given in your notice (for example, if you requested three separate periods of four weeks each, they will be combined into one 12-week period of leave). Alternatively, you may:

Choose a new start date (which must be at least eight weeks after your original period of leave notice was given), and tell the Company within five days of the end of the two-week discussion period; or
Withdraw your period of leave notice within two days of the end of the two-week discussion period (in which case it will not be counted and you may submit a new one if you choose).

Changing or cancelling SPL

You can cancel a period of leave by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the start date in the period of leave notice.

You can change the start date for a period of leave, or the length of the leave, by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the original start date and the new start date.

You do not need to give eight weeks’ notice if you are changing the dates of your SPL because your child has been born earlier than the EWC, where you wanted to start your SPL a certain length of time (but not more then eight weeks) after birth. In such cases please notify the Company in writing of the change as soon as you can.

You can change the end date for a period of leave by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the original end date and the new end date.

You can combine split periods of leave into a single continuous period of leave by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the start date of the first period.

You can request that a continuous period of leave be split into two or more discontinuous periods with periods of work in between. We will consider any such request as set out in the above paragraph.

A notice to change or cancel a period of leave will count as one of your three period of leave notices, unless:

The variation is a result of your child being born earlier or later than the EWC;
The variation is at the Company’s; or
We agree otherwise.

Premature Birth

Where the child is born early (before the beginning of the EWC), you may be able to start SPL in the eight weeks following birth even though you cannot give eight weeks’ notice. The following rules apply:

If you have given a period of leave notice to start SPL on a set date in the eight weeks following the EWC, but your child is born early, you can move the SPL start date forward by the same number of days, provided you notify us in writing of the change as soon as you can. (If your period of leave notice already contained a start date which was a set number of days after birth, rather than a set date, then no notice of change is necessary.)
If your child is born more than eight weeks early and you want to take SPL in the eight weeks following birth, please submit your opt-in notice and your period of leave notice as soon as you can.

Shared parental pay

Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP)

You may be able to claim Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) of up to 39 weeks (less any weeks of SMP or MA claimed by you or your partner) if you have at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment with the Company at the end of the Qualifying Week and your average earnings are not less than the lower earnings limit set by the government each tax year. ShPP is paid by employers at a rate set by the government each year.

Enhanced Shared Parental Pay

As a company we offer both enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay, subject to employees meeting the eligibility criteria. Employees who are taking shared parental leave will qualify for pay as follows providing they have earned not less than the lower earnings limit in the eight weeks leading up to and including the 15th week before the child’s due date/matching date.

One Degree North employees are eligible for enhanced shared parental leave pay minus any enhanced maternity/adoption or paternity pay already received on the following scale provided they have met the eligibility criteria and followed this procedure.

Enhanced Maternity and Shared Parental Leave Pay:

0 – 3 months SPL leave – No pay

4 – 6 months SPL leave – 2 weeks 100% and 2 weeks 50%

7 – 8 months SPL leave – 4 weeks 100% and 4 weeks 50%

9+ months SPL leave – 6 weeks 100% and 6 weeks 50%

Employees who wish to take SPL and/or ShPP must provide One Degree North with a “Shared Parental Leave Form” This notification must be given to One Degree North at least eight weeks before the start date of the first period of SPL.

If the employee leaves One Degree North within 6 months of the date they returned to work following shared parental leave then the employee will be required to repay any Enhanced Shared parental pay received.

Contractual benefits and obligations

Contractual Benefits

Your contract of employment will continue during your shared parental leave and you will receive the benefits of the terms and conditions of your employment, except remuneration. You will be bound by obligations arising under your terms and conditions of employment, except those that are inconsistent with the taking of leave.

Holiday Accrual

During your leave you will continue to accrue annual leave in accordance with your contract of employment. This includes both statutory annual leave and any additional contractual annual leave provided by the company.

Where it is not reasonable or practical for you to take accrued annual leave during the relevant holiday year due to the period of leave, the company may agree for you to carry forward this untaken leave into the following holiday year in accordance with legislation and company policies at the time.

You are encouraged where possible to discuss with your Line Manager any plans to take accrued annual leave either immediately prior to commencing or following your return from leave. Any annual leave taken will be paid at your normal rate of pay.

All annual leave requests are subject to approval by your Line Manager.

Pension Contributions

Any period during which you receive Shared Parental Pay will be treated as pensionable service and the Company will therefore continue to make contributions, based on your usual salary (i.e. the pay you would have received had you been working normally) on your behalf into the Company pension scheme, should you be a contributory member of the scheme. Your contributions will be deducted from your ShPP and will be based on the ShPP you receive rather than your usual salary.

Keeping in touch

The Company may make reasonable contact with you from time to time during your SPL. This may include contacting you to discuss arrangements for your return to work.

You may ask or be asked to work (including attending training) on up to 20 “keeping-in-touch” days (KIT days) during your SPL. This is in addition to any KIT days that you may have taken during maternity leave. KIT days are not compulsory and must be discussed and agreed with your Line Manager.

You will be paid at your normal basic rate of pay for time spent working on a KIT day and this will be inclusive of any shared parental pay entitlement.

Returning to work

If you want to end a period of SPL early, you must give the Company eight weeks’ written notice of the new return date. If you have already given the Company three period of leave notices you will not be able to end your SPL early without our agreement.

If you want to extend your SPL, assuming you still have unused SPL entitlement remaining, you must give the Company a written period of leave notice at least eight weeks before the date you were due to return to work. If you have already given the Company three period of leave notices you will not be able to extend your SPL without our agreement. You may instead be able to request annual leave or ordinary parental leave (see our parental leave policy), subject to the needs of the business.

You are normally entitled to return to work in the position you held before starting SPL, and on the same terms of employment. However, if it is not reasonably practicable for the Company to allow you to return into the same position, we may give you another suitable and appropriate job on terms and conditions that are not less favourable, but only in the following circumstances:

If your SPL and any maternity or paternity leave you have taken adds up to more than 26 weeks in total (whether or not taken consecutively); or

If you took SPL consecutively with more than four weeks of ordinary parental leave.

If you want to change your hours or other working arrangements on return from SPL, you should make a request under our flexible working policy. It is helpful if such requests are made as early as possible.

If you decide you do not want to return to work, you should give notice of resignation in accordance with your contract.

Redundancy during Shared Parental Leave

If your role is affected by a redundancy situation occurring during your leave, we shall write to inform you of any proposals and shall invite you to a meeting before any final decision is reached as to redundancies.

If your role is affected by a redundancy situation and you are on shared parental leave or have returned to work from a period of at least six consecutive weeks of shared parental leave and are within an additional protected period of 18 months from the child’s date of birth, you shall be offered a suitable alternative vacancy that is appropriate to your skills, if one is available. Similar protection applies to employees who have notified us of their pregnancy or are on, or have recently returned from, a period of maternity leave or adoption leave.

Shared Parental Leave – Adoption

Entitlement to shared parental leave (adoption)

You may be entitled to SPL if an adoption agency has placed a child with you and/or your partner for adoption and you intend to share the main responsibility for the care of the child with your partner.

The following conditions must be fulfilled:

You must have at least 26 weeks continuous employment with us by the end of the Qualifying Week, and still be employed by us in the week before the leave is to be taken;
Your partner must have worked (in an employed or self-employed capacity) in at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the Qualifying Week and had average weekly earnings of at least £30 during 13 of those weeks; and
You and your partner must give the necessary statutory notices and declarations as summarised below, including notice to end adoption leave or statutory adoption pay.

Either you or your partner must qualify for statutory adoption leave and/or statutory adoption pay and must take at least two weeks of adoption leave and/or pay.

If your partner is taking adoption leave and/or claiming statutory adoption pay, you may be entitled to two weeks’ paternity leave and pay (see our paternity leave policy). You should consider using this before taking SPL. Paternity leave is additional to any SPL entitlement you may have, but you will lose any untaken paternity leave entitlement once you start a period of SPL.

The total amount of SPL available is 52 weeks, less the weeks of adoption leave taken by either you or partner (or the weeks in which your partner has been in receipt of SAP if they were not entitled to adoption leave).

Opting in to shared parental leave and pay

Not less than eight weeks before the date you intend your SPL to start, you must give the Company written opt-in notice which includes:

Your name and your partner’s name;
If you are taking adoption leave, your adoption leave start and end dates;
If you are not taking adoption leave, your partner’s adoption leave start and end dates, or if your partner is not entitled to adoption leave, the start and end dates of their SAP;
The total SPL available, which is 52 weeks minus the number of weeks’ adoption leave or SAP taken or to be taken by you or your partner;
How many weeks of the available SPL will be allocated to you and how many to your partner (you can change the allocation by giving a further written notice, and you do not have to use your full allocation);
If you are claiming statutory shared parental pay (ShPP), the total ShPP available, which is 39 weeks minus the number of weeks of SAP taken or to be taken);
How many weeks of the available ShPP will be allocated to you and how many to your partner (you can change the allocation by giving a further written notice, and you do not have to use your full allocation);
An indication of the pattern of leave you are thinking of taking, including suggested start and end dates for each period of leave.
This indication will not be binding at this stage, but please give as much information as you can about your future intentions; and
Declarations by you and your partner that you both meet the statutory conditions to enable you to take SPL and ShPP.

Ending your adoption leave

If you are taking or intend to take adoption leave and want to opt into the SPL scheme, you must at least eight weeks’ written notice to end your adoption leave (a curtailment notice). The notice must state the date your adoption leave will end. You can give the notice before or after adoption leave starts, but you must take at least two weeks’ adoption leave.

You must also give the Company, at the same time as the curtailment notice, a notice to opt into the SPL scheme or a written declaration that your partner has given their employer an opt-in notice and that you have given the necessary declarations in that notice.

If your partner is eligible to take SPL from their employer they cannot start it until you have given your curtailment notice.

The curtailment notice is binding on you and cannot usually be revoked. You can only revoke a curtailment notice if your adoption leave has not yet ended and one of the following applies:

If you realise that neither you nor your partner are in fact eligible for SPL or ShPP, in which case you can revoke the curtailment notice in writing up to eight weeks after it was given;
If your partner has died.

Once you have revoked a curtailment notice you will be unable to opt back in to the SPL scheme.

Ending your partner’s adoption leave or pay

If your partner is taking adoption leave or claiming SAP from their employer, you will only be able to take SPL once your partner has either:

Returned to work;
Given their employer a curtailment notice to end adoption leave; or
Given their employer a curtailment notice to end SAP (if they are entitled to SAP but not adoption leave).

Evidence of entitlement

You must provide on request:

One or more documents from the adoption agency showing the agency’s name and address and the expected placement date; and
The name and address of your partner’s employer (or a declaration that they have no employer).

Booking your SPL dates

Having opted into the SPL system you will need to give a period of notice providing the start and end dates of your leave. This can be given at the same time as your opt-in notice, or it can be given later, as long as it is given at least eight weeks before the start of your leave. You must also state in your period of leave notice the dates on which you intend to claim ShPP, if applicable.

If your period of leave notice gives dates for a single continuous block of SPL you will be entitled to take the leave set out in the notice.

Procedure for requesting split periods of SPL

You must submit a period of leave notice setting out the requested pattern of leave at least eight weeks before the requested start date. If we are unable to agree to your request straight away, there will be a two-week discussion period. At the end of that period, the Company will confirm any agreed arrangements in writing.

If we have not reached an agreement, you will be entitled to take the full amount of requested SPL as one continuous block, starting on the start date given in your notice (for example, if you requested three separate periods of four weeks each, they will be combined into one 12-week period of leave). Alternatively, you may:

Choose a new start date (which must be at least eight weeks after your original period of leave notice was given), and the Company within five days of the end of the two-week discussion period; or
Withdraw your period of leave notice within two days of the end of the two-week discussion period (in which case it will not be counted and you may submit a new one if you choose).

Changing the dates or cancelling your SPL

You can cancel a period of leave by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the start date in the period of leave notice.

You can change the start date for a period of leave, or the length of the period of leave, by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the original start date and the new start date.

You can change the end date for a period of leave by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the original end date and the new end date.

You can change split periods of leave into a single continuous period of leave by notifying the Company in writing at least eight weeks before the start date.

You can request that a continuous period of leave be split into two or more discontinuous periods with periods of work in between.

A notice to change or cancel a period of leave will count as one of your three period of leave notices, unless:

The variation is a result of the child being placed with you earlier or later than the expected placement date;
The variation is at the Company’s request; or
We agree otherwise.

Shared parental pay

You may be able to claim Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) of up to 39 weeks (less any weeks of SAP claimed by you or your partner) if you have at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment with us at the end of the qualifying week and your average earnings are not less than the lower earnings limit set by the government each tax year. ShPP is paid by employers at a rate set by the government each year.

Other terms during shared parental leave

Contractual benefits

Holiday accrual

During your period of absence on shared parental leave you will continue to accrue your holiday entitlement in accordance with the terms of your contract of employment, which is to be applied in the usual way. You should discuss your holiday plans with your Line Manager in good time before starting your adoption leave. All holiday dates are subject to approval by your Line Manager.Pension contributions

Any period during which you receive shared parental pay will be treated as pensionable service and the Company will therefore continue to make contributions, based on your usual salary (i.e. the pay you would have received had you been working normally) on your behalf into the Company pension scheme, should you be a contributory member of the scheme. Your contributions will be deducted from your ShPP and will be based on the ShPP you receive rather than your usual salary.

Keeping in touch

The Company may make reasonable contact with you from time to time during your SPL. This may include contacting you to discuss arrangements for your return to work.

You may ask or be asked to work (including attending training) on up to 20 “keeping-in-touch” days (KIT days) during your SPL. This is in addition to any KIT days that you may have taken during adoption leave. KIT days are not compulsory and must be discussed and agreed with your Line Manager.

You will be paid at your normal basic rate of pay for time spent working on a KIT day and this will be inclusive of any shared parental pay entitlement.

Returning to work

If you want to end a period of SPL early, you must give eight weeks’ written notice of the new return date. If you have already given three period of leave notices you will not be able to end your SPL early without our agreement.

If you want to extend your SPL, assuming you still have unused SPL entitlement remaining, you must give written notice at least eight weeks before the date you were due to return to work. If you have already given three period of leave notices you will not be able to extend your SPL without agreement. You may instead be able to request annual leave or ordinary parental leave (see the parental leave policy), subject to the needs of the business.

You are normally entitled to return to work in the position you held before starting SPL, and on the same terms of employment. However, if it is not reasonably practicable for the Company to allow you to return into the same position, you may be given another suitable and appropriate job on terms and conditions that are not less favourable, but only in the following circumstances:

If your SPL and any adoption or paternity leave you have taken adds up to more than 26 weeks in total (whether or not taken consecutively); or
If you took SPL consecutively with more than four weeks of ordinary parental leave.

If you want to change your hours or other working arrangements on return from SPL you should make a request under our flexible working policy. It is helpful if such requests are made as early as possible.

If you decide you do not want to return to work you should give notice of resignation in accordance with your contract

Redundancy during Shared Parental Leave

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Maternity, Adoption, Paternity and Parental Leave

Maternity Leave and Pay

Adoption Leave and Pay

Surrogate Parents

Paternity Leave and Pay

Shared Parental Leave (SPL)

Parental Leave Policy

Bereaved Partner Paternity Leave (BPPL)