Shared parental leave is a way to split leave between parents in the year after your baby is born. It was introduced in 2015 and gives parents more choice and flexibility than the traditional maternity and paternity leave.
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It’s essentially the same leave and statutory pay as maternity leave, but either partner can take it.
What is shared parental leave?
Shared parental leave (SPL) is a way to share leave with your partner more flexibly (than the standard two weeks’ paternity leave and up to 52 weeks’ maternity leave).
You and your partner can divide up to 50 weeks of leave between you, and 37 weeks of pay.
Remember that mothers (or birthing parents) must take at least 2 weeks of maternity leave to begin with. So if you use SPL, you’ll still get a full year in total.
Reasons you might want to take SPL could be:
- You don’t want to be off work for too long at once, or during a particular period.
- The father or partner gets a much more generous family pay offer from their employer.
- You want to share parenting responsibilities more equally.
- You want to take leave together.
Is shared parental leave a statutory right?
Shared parental leave (SPL) is the same as maternity leave and paternity leave in that it is a statutory right.
It gives you and your partner a fixed amount of time off that you can share between you.
You may want to both use half of it and be off at the same time, so you’d both be at home for six months.
Or, take a block each to prolong how long at least one of you is at home with the baby. Time must be taken off as blocks rather than lots of individual days. You can alternate blocks to reduce how much time each of you is away from work at once.
Change to shared parental leave law from 2026
Since April 2026, fathers and partners can now take paternity leave and pay after shared parental leave and pay, if they wish to, under the Employment Rights Act 2025.
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Eligibility for shared parental leave
To be eligible, both parents must:
- Share responsibility for the child at birth
- Meet work and pay criteria which includes:
- Be employed (as an employee not a worker) and have been continuously employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks before the 15th week before the baby is due.
- You are going to stay with the same employer when the baby is born, at least until you have finished shared parental leave.
- Earn an average of at least £129 a week each.
For adopters, the same criteria applies except that you must both have been employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks before you were matched with the child, rather than necessarily during pregnancy.
How much shared parental leave (SPL) can I take?
You can take up to 50 weeks of SPL, shared between you.
You can’t take shared parental leave at the same time as maternity, paternity or adoption leave. But, you can choose to end those early and take the rest of the time as SPL instead.
An example could be the mother takes maternity leave for six months, then their partner takes SPL for another six months.
How much shared parental pay (ShPP) can I receive?
Statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) is 90% of your average weekly earnings or £194.32 a week, whichever is lower.
This pay only covers 39 weeks (a minimum of 2 of these won’t be SPL, they’ll be maternity), so if you take the full 52 weeks’ leave, 13 weeks of that will be unpaid.
Remember that yours or your partner’s companies may offer a better deal than this – not all employers offer only the bare minimum. It can work out better financially if one of your employers offers much higher pay for shared parental leave than the other. Check with your employer or HR to see what pay you could receive if you wish to take shared parental leave.
FAQs
Is Shared Parental Pay the same as Maternity Pay?
Statutory Shared Parental Pay is exactly the same rate as both Statutory Maternity Pay and Statutory Parental Pay. Some companies do offer more generous pay for parents, so do check with your HR department.
Does Shared Parental Leave have to be taken all at once?
You can alternate blocks of Shared Parental Leave if you like, but only up to four blocks. For example, Partner 1 could take 6 months of maternity leave, then Partner 2 takes 3 months of SPL, then partner 1 takes another 3 months of SPL.
Can both parents be off on Shared Parental Leave at the same time?
Yes, you can both take Shared Parental Leave at the same time. You have up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory pay to share in a way that works best for your family.
