Shared Parental Leave (often shortened to SPL) gives parents eligible for it a more flexible way to take time off during their child’s first year. Eligible parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory pay, and they can take that leave together, at different times, or even in separate blocks.
For employers, that flexibility of Shared Parental Leave can make it more complex to manage than other types of family leave. As an employer, you need to understand who qualifies for SPL, how much leave is available, what notice employees must give and when you can refuse to approve a particular leave pattern.
This guide explains how Shared Parental Leave works, what employees are entitled to and what you need to do as an employer. The Shared Parental Leave rules covered in this guide apply to England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has separate rules.
Key facts about Shared Parental Leave
- Eligible parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory pay, according to GOV.UK.
- Leave and pay must normally be used within the first year.
- Parents can take leave together or at different times.
- Employees can take Shared Parental Leave in up to three separate blocks, according to GOV.UK.
- Employees normally need to give at least eight weeks’ notice.
- For 2026/27, Statutory Shared Parental Pay is £194.32 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, according to HMRC.
- Factorial helps you manage leave requests, track absences and keep leave records in one place with its leave management software.
For a wider overview of family leave, see Factorial’s guide to Statutory Maternity Pay and Leave. You can also read our guide to paternity leave and pregnancy rights at work.
What is Shared Parental Leave?
Official sources explain that Shared Parental Leave is a type of statutory leave that lets eligible parents share time off after the birth or adoption of a child. To see these official sources, visit GOV.UK.
It gives families the option to choose which parent stays at home and when.
For example, parents could choose to:
- take leave at the same time
- alternate periods of leave
- have one parent return to work while the other takes leave
- return to work and then take another block of leave later
Shared Parental Leave is also available in surrogacy situations and where a child is being fostered with the intention to adopt. The important point for employers to understand is that SPL is not extra leave added on top of the full maternity or adoption entitlement employees are already eligible for. Instead, maternity or adoption leave has to be ended early, making the remaining entitlement available as Shared Parental Leave.
Why is Shared Parental Leave important?
Shared Parental Leave gives parents more choice over how they divide childcare during the first year.
Traditional maternity and paternity leave can mean one parent takes most of the available leave. SPL allows eligible parents to divide a much larger period between them.
For employers, understanding the rules helps you:
- handle requests correctly
- plan cover for employee absences
- calculate statutory pay
- keep accurate leave records
- give employees clear information
- avoid unfairly refusing statutory leave
It can also help you create a more flexible approach to family leave as a company policy, which can improve your employees’ experience at your organisation.
Remember that Shared Parental Leave is only one option for taking leave. Depending on their circumstances, employees might also use maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, annual leave or unpaid parental leave. Take a glance at Factorial’s UK guide to employee annual leave for an overview of different types of time off.
How does Shared Parental Leave work?
The simplest way to understand Shared Parental Leave is to start with maternity leave. A birth mother can normally take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave. However, at least two weeks must be taken after the birth, or four weeks if the employee works in a factory.
If the mother decides to end maternity leave early, the remaining leave can become Shared Parental Leave.
For example:
A mother takes 12 weeks of maternity leave.
52 weeks – 12 weeks = 40 weeks
This means up to 40 weeks of Shared Parental Leave could remain for eligible parents to use.
What about Shared Parental Pay?
The same idea applies to statutory pay. Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay can normally last up to 39 weeks. If it ends early, the remaining statutory pay can become Statutory Shared Parental Pay (abbreviated to ShPP).
For example, if 12 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay have already been used:
39 weeks – 12 weeks = 27 weeks
This could leave up to 27 weeks of Statutory Shared Parental Pay to share.
Overall, parents can share a maximum of 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay because the birth mother must take at least the first two weeks of maternity leave.
Who is eligible for Shared Parental Leave?
Eligibility can be one of the more confusing parts of Shared Parental Leave because both parents’ circumstances can matter.
For a birth, your employee generally needs to:
- share responsibility for the child with their partner or the child’s other parent
- have worked continuously for you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due
- remain employed by you until at least the week before their SPL starts
- give you the correct notice
- meet the relevant employment rules
The employee must be classed as an employee, rather than simply a worker, to qualify for Shared Parental Leave. Read more on employee status in our separate article. The other parent also has to meet the employment and earnings requirement.
For example, where only the mother’s partner is taking SPL, the mother generally needs to have worked for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the due week and earned at least £390 in total across 13 of those weeks.
Who is eligible for Statutory Shared Parental Pay?
Qualifying for leave does not automatically mean an employee qualifies for Statutory Shared Parental Pay. For ShPP, the employee generally also needs to meet the relevant statutory pay rules and earn at least the minimum earnings threshold.
For 2026/27, this is an average of at least £129 per week.
This means you should check leave and pay eligibility separately, because depending on which parent is claiming ShPP, they may also need to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay, while their partner must meet the relevant maternity, adoption or employment test.
How much is Statutory Shared Parental Pay?
For 2026/27, Statutory Shared Parental Pay is:
£194.32 per week or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
Unlike Statutory Maternity Pay, ShPP does not include six weeks at an uncapped 90% of average earnings.
For example: If an employee earns £200 per week on average, 90% is £180. Because this is lower than £194.32, their ShPP would be £180 per week.
Here are a few more examples:
| Average weekly earnings | Statutory Shared Parental Pay |
| £500 | £194.32 |
| £300 | £194.32 |
| £200 | £180 |
| £150 | £135 |
The statutory rate usually changes each tax year, so check the latest HMRC figures before processing payments.
How much notice must employees give?
Employees normally need to give you at least eight weeks’ written notice before the Shared Parental Leave they want to take begins. The notice should include the information needed to confirm their entitlement to SPL and their planned leave.
An employee can change their plans later, but they will normally need to give another eight weeks’ notice.
After receiving an application, you can also ask for certain documents to prove eligibility. For example, you can ask for:
- a copy of the child’s birth certificate
- a declaration of the child’s place and date of birth if registration has not happened yet
- the name and address of the employee’s partner’s employer
You have 14 days from the application to request this information, and the employee then has 14 days to provide it. For an adoption, you can ask for information about the adoption agency, matching date and placement date.
Can employers refuse Shared Parental Leave?
You can only refuse SPL if the employee does not meet the eligibility requirements. However, if an eligible employee requests a valid continuous block of leave and gives you the correct notice, you cannot refuse it because the dates are inconvenient for you.
On the other hand, with a discontinuous leave request, you have more flexibility as an employer. If the employee asks to repeatedly alternate between work and leave within one block, you do not have to accept that pattern. In this case, you can either agree to it, suggest different dates, agree to another arrangement, or refuse the proposed discontinuous pattern.
Working during Shared Parental Leave
Employees can work up to 20 Shared Parental Leave in Touch days, usually called SPLIT days, without bringing their SPL to an end.
These can be useful for:
- training
- team meetings
- important projects
- keeping up with workplace changes
- preparing to return to work
SPLIT days are optional. Both you and the employee must agree to them. You should also agree how the employee will be paid for these days. The 20 SPLIT days are separate from the 10 Keeping in Touch days that may be available during maternity or adoption leave.
Shared Parental Leave checklist for employers
When an employee asks for Shared Parental Leave, you can follow this process:
- Record the baby’s due date, birth date or adoption date
- Check that maternity or adoption leave will end early
- Check the employee’s eligibility
- Check Statutory Shared Parental Pay eligibility separately
- Review the employee’s written notice
- Record how much leave and pay is available
- Check the requested leave blocks
- Send the correct information to payroll
- Plan cover with the employee’s manager
- Record any later changes to leave
- Agree any SPLIT days
- Prepare for the employee’s return
A clear company policy can make the process much easier. Explain how employees should request SPL, who they need to contact and what information they need to provide. It is also worth checking your policies whenever employment law changes. Factorial’s UK employment law guide covers recent changes affecting employers.
Manage Shared Parental Leave more easily with Factorial
Shared Parental Leave can involve several dates, different blocks of leave and changes to payroll. That information often needs to be shared between the employee, their manager, HR, payroll and finance. Managing everything through emails and spreadsheets can make it harder to see who is away and when.
Factorial is an AI business management platform that brings HR, finance and IT together in one place.
You can also:
- keep leave requests in one place
- create different absence and family leave policies
- see approved leave on a shared calendar
- keep employee documents organised
- share payroll-related information more easily
- reduce manual HR administration
This can make it easier to manage Shared Parental Leave alongside maternity leave, paternity leave, annual leave and other absences.
With Factorial, you can keep employee records organised, manage different types of leave and give managers a clearer view of upcoming absences. Request a free demo of Factorial to see what the platform is capable of and receive a personalised quote tailored to your organisational needs!
FAQs about Shared Parental Leave
Eligible parents can share up to 50 weeks of Shared Parental Leave. The actual amount depends on how much maternity or adoption leave has already been taken. The leave must normally be used within the child's first year.
For 2026/27, Statutory Shared Parental Pay is £194.32 per week or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Eligible parents can share up to 37 weeks of statutory pay.
Normally, you cannot refuse a valid continuous block of SPL if the employee qualifies and gives the correct notice. You can refuse a proposed discontinuous pattern, such as alternating between work and leave every few weeks.
Yes. If both parents qualify, they can take SPL together or at different times. Any leave they take comes out of the same shared entitlement.
No, it isn't. Under the current rules, an employee needs at least 26 weeks of continuous employment by the qualifying week to be eligible for Shared Parental Leave. This is different from Statutory Paternity Leave, which became a day-one right in April 2026.
