connected to health needs due to pregnancy and b) an expecting mother who has reduced their hours due to ill health connected with pregnancy. would not be a contractual change, but a short-term temporary measure. Notification Move paragraph (page 3, fourth paragraph under the heading ‘Shared Parental Leave in Touch Days) up to the section heading ‘Notification’. yes Included in updated policy Check and confirm whether eight weeks’ notice of taking leave needs to be given before all the requested blocks, or before each one. Also explore if there can be some flexibility regarding the requirement for eight weeks’ notice of wanting to take a block of leave. yes Line managers require time to make arrangements for cover and payroll need time to make adjustments. Strongly encourage line managers to have an early discussion with an employee requesting continuous leave/blocks of leave and get back with a response to the request for leave within the window of 14 days. Consider setting a timescale for responding to the notification received from the employee, for example 5 working days. yes Included in updated policy In the section headed SPL, (page 2, fourth bullet point), extend the wording to ‘be taken by the partner, while the mother/primary carer is still on maternity/adoption leave’. Reference to the primary carer, where relevant, should be applied in this way throughout the policy. no The legislation states that it is shared parental leave and doesn’t make provision for a primary carer as such. Under the section ‘Requests are required in writing…’ (page 2), the second bullet point should read ‘name of the other parent/partner’. yes Included in updated policy Under the section ‘Requirement for a signed yes Included in updated policy
Declaration’, clarify who ‘they’ are (to distinguish from earlier use of ‘you’). Changing the heading to ‘…Declaration from the other parent/partner’ would help clarify this point. Move the penultimate paragraph on page 4 up to the section headed Notification. yes Included in updated policy Clarify that the reference to ‘birth certificate’ (page 3, top paragraph) refers to the birth certificate of the child. yes Included in the updated policy Under the section ‘..default provisions for discontinuous leave only’, simplify the wording of the second paragraph. yes Included in updated policy Payments Clarify any payments for SPLIT days, depending on when these are taken. yes Included in updated policy Additional information In the second paragraph (page 3), change wording to ‘…if your combined leave period (maternity/paternity/adoption plus shared parental leave)…. Also, remove the subsequent sentence, referring to unpaid parental leave. yes Included in updated policy The risk of taking more than 26 weeks should be made clearer, as the job that an individual had prior to SPL may not be held open for them. Ensure wording is in line with maternity policy, as relevant. yes Included in updated policy Add links in the policy to: Adoption leave Maternity leave Paternity leave And attach four request templates. yes To be included with policy when it goes on the intranet Review the policy at around a six month period. yes Included in