New rules around shared parental leave could have a massive impact on the industry. Samantha McClary looks at how employers might deal with the changes
At the end of last year new legislation came into force enabling shared parental leave.
The rules mean that from 5 April mothers can end their maternity leave early and share most of that leave with their partner. Next week, the first employees wanting to take advantage of the regulations will have to submit their curtailment notices (for the mothers-to-be) or notices of intention to take shared parental leave (for the fathers-to-be).
The new rules apply to couples whose babies are due to be born from April. The government expects as many as 285,000 couples to be eligible for shared leave, allowing couples to spend up to half a year together at home following the child’s birth.
The move is part of a push to kick-start a culture change within workplaces where fathers can feel more confident about taking time off for childcare and businesses can retain talented staff by offering a more flexible approach to work.
The government also sees the new right as an essential tool in its ambition to address the issues holding women back at work, particularly the notion that working mothers are less career-focused.
Under guidelines produced by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, shared parental leave must be taken in weekly blocks. It can be stopped and started so that periods of work can be interspersed with periods of leave. Each parent must notify their employer of their entitlement and book the leave with at least eight weeks’ notice. In property, this means an expectant or new father with a big deal due to complete or project to work on can timetable his paternity leave around work.
In a move of further flexibility, each parent can also use as many as 20 shared parental leave “in touch” days, allowing them to effectively work part-time.
Download an employers guide to shared parental leave >>
The property perspective
Noel McGonigle, UK HR director, Savills
“Shared parental leave is a fantastic idea for families, in that both parents (biological, adopted or carer) can share the first year of caring for a new baby. However, as is the case with most government policies, a great idea has been corrupted by reality – any policy that needs a 50+ page guide cannot be straightforward.
“Parents can choose to share the current maternity leave, so up to 50 weeks (the first two weeks after the birth have to be taken as maternity leave). However, there is no requirement to pay both parents equally. So it’s hardly encouraging both parents/carers to share the responsibility.
“But it could be great news for families if your company chooses to pay both parents/carers equally. If implemented well, this could be a real change in how we manage parental leave and could make the issue of maternity much easier to handle.”
Top tips for employers
As a largely male-populated industry, shared parental leave could have a big impact on the property sector, so what do employees need to be doing to prepare?
1. Communicate
The introduction of shared parental leave and pay marks an historic departure from the traditional assumption that the mother will be the primary carer and gives parents a real choice. It is a significant new employment right and employers should inform staff about its introduction. It also provides an opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their flexibility as an employer.
2. Process
To be entitled to take shared parental leave and pay, employees will need to meet minimum eligibility requirements, including a duration of employment test for both leave and pay and a minimum earnings requirement for shared parental pay. Processes need to be in place to calculate whether or not an employee meets the basic requirements.
3. Benefits
Employers will need to decide whether or not they will offer contractual benefits to those on shared parental leave. Enhanced benefits could help an employer’s reputation for offering an attractive place to work.
4. Response
Under the regime, employees will be able to intersperse periods of shared parental leave with periods of work. Employers should consider what approach they will take to requests for discontinuous periods of leave and how they will cover these periods.
5. Simultaneous leave
Employers should be prepared to deal with a situation where two employees in the same department are expecting a baby together and wish to take shared parental leave simultaneously.
6. Notifications
Employers may wish to draft model notification forms for employees to help them comply with the legal requirements, as well as model forms for the employer to respond to employees’ requests. Organisations can use a statutory maternity leave notification deadline calculator to calculate the last date on which an employee can inform her employer of her maternity plans.
7. Entitlement
Employers will be able to ask an employee to provide evidence of their entitlement to shared parental leave, including details of the employer of the person with whom the employee wants to share the leave. Where employers intend to contact the other person’s employer, model letters to that employer can make life easier for HR staff. Employers should also think about how they will deal with requests for information from the other person’s employer.
8. Training
Managers will often be the employee’s first port of call when notifying the organisation about their pregnancy. So that line managers can deal with such information, the employer will need to support them, including through training on shared parental leave and pay. Training managers can help them to overcome any preconceptions they may have about a man’s role in caring for children. This is important as employees who take shared parental leave will be protected against suffering a detriment for taking or seeking to take shared parental leave.
