- \n
- Eligible parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of statutory pay, according to GOV.UK<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Leave and pay must normally be used within the first year.<\/li>\n
- Parents can take leave together or at different times.<\/li>\n
- Employees can take Shared Parental Leave in up to three separate blocks, according to GOV.UK<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Employees normally need to give at least eight weeks\u2019 notice.<\/li>\n
- For 2026\/27, Statutory Shared Parental Pay is \u00a3194.32 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, according to HMRC<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Factorial helps you manage leave requests, track absences and keep leave records in one place with its leave management software<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For a wider overview of family leave, see Factorial\u2019s guide to Statutory Maternity Pay and Leave<\/a>. You can also read our guide to paternity leave<\/a> and pregnancy rights at work<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\n\nDownload Your Time Off Tracker UK & Ireland 2027<\/h4>\n \n
- \n
- Keep track of employee holidays and other time off<\/li>\n
- See all the bank holidays for the UK & Ireland<\/li>\n
- Know who will be out of the office at any given time<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n \n \n Download for free <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n \n
![](\"https:\/\/factorialhr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/09110715\/Frame-427321177-2.webp\")
\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat is Shared Parental Leave?<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>.<\/p>\n
It gives families the option to choose which parent stays at home and when.<\/p>\n
For example, parents could choose to:<\/p>\n
- \n
- take leave at the same time<\/li>\n
- alternate periods of leave<\/li>\n
- have one parent return to work while the other takes leave<\/li>\n
- return to work and then take another block of leave later<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Shared Parental Leave is also available in surrogacy<\/strong> situations and where a child is being fostered with the intention to adopt<\/strong>. The important point for employers to understand is that SPL is not extra leave<\/strong> 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<\/strong> available as Shared Parental Leave.<\/p>\n
Why is Shared Parental Leave important?<\/h2>\n
Shared Parental Leave gives parents more choice over how they divide childcare during the first year.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For employers, understanding the rules helps you:<\/p>\n
- \n
- handle requests correctly<\/li>\n
- plan cover for employee absences<\/li>\n
- calculate statutory pay<\/li>\n
- keep accurate leave records<\/li>\n
- give employees clear information<\/li>\n
- avoid unfairly refusing statutory leave<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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<\/a> for an overview of different types of time off.<\/p>\n
How does Shared Parental Leave work?<\/h2>\n
The simplest way to understand Shared Parental Leave is to start with maternity leave<\/a>. A birth mother can normally take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave. However, at least two weeks<\/strong> must be taken after the birth, or four weeks<\/strong> if the employee works in a factory<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
If the mother decides to end maternity leave early, the remaining leave can become Shared Parental Leave.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
A mother takes 12 weeks of maternity leave.<\/em><\/p>\n
52 weeks – 12 weeks = 40 weeks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This means up to 40 weeks of Shared Parental Leave could remain for eligible parents to use.<\/p>\n
What about Shared Parental Pay?<\/h2>\n
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).<\/p>\n
For example, if 12 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay have already been used:<\/p>\n
39 weeks – 12 weeks = 27 weeks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This could leave up to 27 weeks of Statutory Shared Parental Pay to share.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Who is eligible for Shared Parental Leave?<\/h2>\n
Eligibility can be one of the more confusing parts of Shared Parental Leave because both parents’ circumstances can matter.<\/p>\n
For a birth, your employee generally needs to:<\/p>\n
- \n
- share responsibility for the child with their partner or the child’s other parent<\/li>\n
- have worked continuously for you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due<\/li>\n
- remain employed by you until at least the week before their SPL starts<\/li>\n
- give you the correct notice<\/li>\n
- meet the relevant employment rules<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The employee must be classed as an employee, rather than simply a worker, to qualify for Shared Parental Leave. Read more on employee status<\/a> in our separate article. The other parent also has to meet the employment and earnings requirement.<\/p>\n
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 \u00a3390 in total across 13 of those weeks.<\/p>\n
Who is eligible for Statutory Shared Parental Pay?<\/h2>\n
Qualifying for leave does not<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n
For 2026\/27, this is an average<\/strong> of at least \u00a3129 per week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
This means you should check leave and pay eligibility separately<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n
How much is Statutory Shared Parental Pay?<\/h2>\n
For 2026\/27, Statutory Shared Parental Pay is:<\/p>\n
\u00a3194.32 per week or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.<\/p>\n
Unlike Statutory Maternity Pay, ShPP does not include six weeks at an uncapped 90% of average earnings.<\/p>\n
For example: If an employee earns \u00a3200 per week on average, 90% is \u00a3180. Because this is lower than \u00a3194.32, their ShPP would be \u00a3180 per week.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here are a few more examples:<\/p>\n
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