Helen Tracey Overview Practicalities Eligibility Notification - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Helen Tracey

Overview

Practicalities Eligibility Notification Agreement Examples During Leave Policy/Procedure Impact Resources

Practicalities

Family Friendly

Choice

Law

Equality

Modern

Flexibility

But it’s Complicated ?

Practicalities

1 December 14 (Regulations) Publish policy/ procedure Consult/inform staff 5 April 15 (Effective Date)

Practicalities

Open Discussion Non-binding indication Plan Ahead (Tentative)

• Early stage
• Rights clear
• Whether
• When
• Maternity Leave
• Adoption Leave
• Paternity Leave

Practicalities

Maternity/ Adoption Leave is ended early

Untaken leave available as Shared Parental Leave Maximum of 50 weeks available

Shared Parental Leave

Practicalities

Maternity or Adoption Pay is ended early

Untaken pay available as Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) Maximum of 37 weeks available

Shared Parental Pay

Eligibility “Sharer” (Employed by you)

 If these criteria are met the employee will also be entitled to Shared

Parental Pay – unless they fall below the earnings threshold

Eligibility

Put simply…(as possible)

If

The “sharer” works for you

And

Was entitled to maternity

• r adoption

leave and pay

And Will be returning to work for you And

Have leave and pay

• utstanding

They are entitled to Shared Parental Leave and Pay

Eligibility

 Mother/main adopter may share with

 The child’s father (maternity only)  Their partner (either married to/civil partnership or live

with)

 Their co-adopter (adoptions only)  Both need to meet the eligibility criteria  The two people who share the leave should be those who

have the main responsibility to caring for the child

Eligibility “Sharing Partner” (Not employed by you)

Eligibility “Sharing partner” (Employed by you)

Information they must give:

 Their name  Their partners name  Start and end date of the maternity/adoption leave (and/or pay)  The amount of leave and pay available  The expected and/or actual birth date or placement date

Their declaration:

Eligibility “Sharing partner” (Employed by you)

Eligibility

Cannot begin before the Birth (or adoption placement)

All leave and pay must be taken within 1 year of the birth (or adoption placement) Both partners must agree to share the leave and/or pay If there are two employers they do not necessarily both have to agree but…if they don’t plans may need to change Shared Parental Leave

Notification

 At least 8 weeks notice (also for variations)  Therefore notice should be given at least 9 weeks before the 52 week period is

due to end.

 So notice to return to work may be given before the mother/adopter leaves

work

 Notice may also be given after the mother/adopter has returned to work  (However any outstanding pay will “run in the background” up until 39 weeks,

even after the employee has returned to work unless SPL/SPP notice is given)

 Entitled to ask to change the amount or pattern of leave twice  Therefore maximum number of notifications is three (unless you agree more)  Once they have returned to work the maternity or adoption leave/pay cannot

be restarted.

 Any outstanding leave or pay must be taken as Shared Parental Leave and pay

Notification

 Revoking notifications  Their partner has provided notice to their employer  You are not required to check the information provided by

the partner …

 …but you can and may want to

Notification - Example Form

Notification - Example Form

Notification - Example Form (HR-Inform)

Agreement

 Two week “discussion period”  Employer can propose agree, propose alternatives or refuse  If refused the weeks may be taken in a single block  Employee has 5 days to specify start date  If not specified, will start on the first date in their

notification

 An employer must agree to Shared Parental Leave taken in one single

block

 An employer does not have to agree to an employee taking more than

• ne block of Shared parental Leave

Agreement Withdrawal

 The employee has up until the point of agreement (within

the 2 weeks) to withdraw

 Once the declarations are made the employee is bound to

end their leave on that date unless:

 In the 8 weeks after the notice it is discovered there is no

entitlement

 Before the end date the person who the leave was to be shared with

dies

 (for mothers only) notice was given before the birth and is revoked

within six weeks after the birth

 In the first two cases there is no right to make a further

request

Examples

 Share once – transfers from one to the other

 Share back and forth (take in blocks)  Share and take leave at the same time (although the

mother will have had to give notice of her return date)

 Taking blocks of leave  Minimum of a week  Your employee will be returning to work in between  Cap of three notifications (not three blocks)

Example

Example – Shared in 1 Block

Example – Numerous blocks

 The remaining 4 weeks will still be available up until the day before the

child’s first birthday (or one year after the date of placement for adoptions)  Use the HR Inform online calculator

Example – Numerous blocks

 In this example, all periods are paid (subject to eligibility)  Due to using leave at the same time ShPP is used by week 35

During and After Leave

 Protection of Terms and Conditions (except remuneration)  Continuity of Employment  Accrual of leave  Pension implications – similar to maternity/adoption/paternity  Contact during leave  “SPLIT” days – up to 20 per employee – paid  Providing cover  Returning to work – original contract and T&Cs unless not practicable

Policy/Procedures

The existing rules on the following will remain the same:

• The length of Maternity Leave
• The length of Statutory Maternity Pay
• The qualification arrangements for Statutory Maternity

Leave/Pay and Maternity Allowance

• The length of Ordinary Paternity Leave
• The length of Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay
• The qualification arrangements for Statutory Paternity Pay
• The length of Adoption Leave
• Arrangements for recovering statutory payments via

HMRC

Policy/Procedure

The following will change:

• Additional Paternity Leave abolished
• Additional Paternity Pay abolished
• (and replaced with Shared Parental Leave and Pay)
• So…those previously entitled can only access additional leave if

someone shares it with them…

• Adoption Leave and Pay will be brought in line with

Maternity Leave and Pay

• i.e. No service requirement to qualify for adoption leave
• Pay enhanced to 90% for the first six week
• Adoption leave and pay will become open to parents in

surrogacy arrangements who meet eligibility criteria

• Statutory Pay Rates will be upped to £139.58pw from 5 April

2015

Policy/Procedure

Consider the impact on:

• Maternity Leave Procedure
• Adoption Leave Procedure
• Paternity Leave Procedure
• Agency Workers Procedure
• Possibly:
• Flexible Working Procedure

Impact

 Culture Change  Only 0.6% of those eligible take APL  Government predicts 2% take up  E.g. Sweden – 40 years, popularity linked to pay  Most employers not offering enhanced pay (Civil Service are)  Is there a risk of discrimination if you offer enhanced

maternity/adoption and not shared parental pay?

 BIS guidance – not legally binding  Shuter v Ford Motor Company http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-

inform/case-law/2014/september/shuter-v-ford-motor-company

 Also need to ensure consistency and fairness in types of requests

accepted/refused

Resources

 Examples of where to find further information:  CIPD HR-Inform (example policies, letters, forms, cases etc.)  Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – Shared Parental Leave

and Pay – Employers’ Technical Guide – September 2014 (FAQs, examples)

 ACAS guidance – Shared Parental Leave: a good practice guide for employers

and employees (best practice, sample templates)

 Gov.uk (Basic information on rights, pay and administration)  My Family Care – HR Resource Pack (survey results, overview of the

legislation).

Resources - Glossary

 Curtailment

• Ending leave or pay before maximum entitlement has been

taken

 KIT

• Keeping in Touch (Days) – Maternity/Adoption

 MA

• Maternity Allowance

 SAP

• Statutory Adoption Pay

 SMP

• Statutory Maternity Pay

 SPP

• Statutory Paternity Pay

 ShPL

• Shared Parental Leave

 ShPP

• Statutory Shared Parental Pay

 SPLIT

• Shared Parental Leave Keeping in Touch Days