The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has unveiled an online tool for parents to access and understand shared parental leave and pay.
It covers the schemes for shared parental leave (SPL) and statutory shared parental pay (ShPP), and makes it possible to check eligibility, calculate pay entitlements and download the documents needed to secure leave from an employer.
SPL and ShPP allows working parents across Great Britain to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay in the first year of their child’s life (or within a year of placement if the child is adopted).
BEIS said the new tool will ensure more families can make the most of the scheme to spend time with their new-borns.
Labour Markets Minister Paul Scully said: “Shared parental leave gives working parents the power to balance and share childcare and work, and this new tool will mean it’s quicker and easier to get that precious time with your baby.
“Shared leave and pay gives working families much more choice and flexibility about who cares for their child in the first year, and when. The scheme helps working women exercise more choice about when to go back to work, while also encouraging and supporting dads and partners to take a greater role in their child’s care if they wish.”
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
