Mothers and adopting parents who meet the conditions for entitlement to Shared Parental Leave remain entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave.
After taking two weeks’ compulsory leave, they are entitled to reduce their entitlement to maternity/adoption leave either by returning to work before their full entitlement of Statutory Maternity/adoption leave has been taken, or by giving notice to curtail their leave at a specified future date. They may then share the balance of any remaining leave, and pay, with the other parent.
The eligibility and notification requirements for Shared Parental Leave are quite complex. A sample shared parental leave and pay policy for employees is available from ACAS. This may be used as a guidance when applying it to the case of a clergy person.
Clergy who exercise an entitlement to Shared Parental Leave and who meet the eligibility requirements of the statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations 2014 are entitled to statutory Shared Parental Pay.