What to do - As soon as your employee tells you she/he wants to explore Shared Parental Leave (SPL)
1. Meet with the employee to discuss her/his plans for SPL.
At this stage, it can be general discussion over intentions and whether there are other leave options to explore. If the employee has notified you she is pregnant, the discussion can also include the options for Maternity Leave and SPL.
2. The eligibility test needs to be met in order for the employee to take SPL; guidelines can be found under the Eligibility Test, please contact HR for further clarification.
3. The employee must complete a Notification of Intention to take SPL form. The notification of intention is non-binding at this stage and is intended to give notification of intent, unless accompanied by the Request for SPL form and/or the Curtailment of Maternity/Adoption Leave forms. Please note, your employee cannot return to work or start SPL for two weeks following the birth of her child or within two weeks of the start of adoption leave.
4. Employees can make up to three separate requests to take SPL, provided eight weeks’ notice is given. Continuous leave requests should be agreed, however, you have the option to decline requests for discontinuous leave under the SPL policy. Once notification has been received, the request should be reviewed and agreed, if you are declining the request, please refer to the policy and quick guide for justification and approach to decline requests.
5. Employees eligible for enhanced ShPP should be advised that this entitlement is for one period of leave only as this will impact the decision making process.
6. All authorisation and notification forms should be signed off by the Departmental/School Manager.
7. This paperwork should be then sent to the HR Department as soon possible to enable formal acknowledge of the request and generate the appropriate notifications for payroll purposes.
8. Once agreed, discussions over annual leave arrangements prior to SPL can take place. If the SPL period is likely to cross two annual leave years and it is impractical to take all of the leave in the year it was accrued (in line with the Annual Leave Policy), the employee may carry over the accrued annual leave, but must use these days within 3 months following their return to work, except where an alternative timescale is agreed with the manager due to operational requirements. The employee will accrue annual leave during the entire SPL period at the contractual rate pro rata.
9. Consider how you will manage your employees’ absence during his/her SPL. Will you be able to reallocate the work within the Department/School or will you need to take on a temporary member of staff?
Depending on the length of total family leave, the employee will either have the right to return to the same job or a suitable alternative role. The SPL Policy outlines this in detail.
What to do - Whilst your employee is on SPL
1. You and your employee can make reasonable contact during SPL. What constitutes reasonable will vary according to the individual circumstances and this should be agreed between you both prior to the start of leave. In any case, you should ensure that your employee is kept up-to-date with changes in the workplace.
2. On agreement with the Head of Department/School/Line Manager and the member of staff, employees may work up to maximum of 20 days during their SPL, known as Shared Parental Leave in Touch days (SPLiT). Please note, employees are not obliged to work these days. Full details of SPLiT days can also be found in the University Shared Parental Leave Policy. You may find a pro-forma called SPLiT Guidelines helpful (an optional agreement between manager and employee) which helps you set out arrangements for keeping in touch during SPL.
You will be responsible for confirming SPLiT days directly with Payroll Services to ensure payment adjustments are made accordingly.
3. The employee may request to take further periods of SPL or request a change of dates. Any request to vary or cancel SPL, including bringing SPL to an early end, needs to be requested at least eight weeks in advance. Employees should fill out the Request to vary or cancel SPL form and this should be agreed/declined by you and HR notified along with the supporting paperwork.
4. Employees should be made aware of the potential implications on enhanced ShPP should they take additional periods of SPL or vary their SPL periods.
What to do - Before your employee returns to work
1. You should ensure that you have discussed with your employee any concerns she/he may have relating to her/his return.
2. Options over flexible working and other arrangements can also be discussed.
3. If you have taken on a temporary member of staff to the cover SPL period, you should ensure that you give them the appropriate notice to end their fixed-term contract.