The law on sharing maternity leave, the so-called Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014, came into force in the United Kingdom on 1st December 2014. Both couples with children due or with children placed for adoption on or after 5th April 2015 will be allowed to share the year-long maternity leave which has so far belonged only to mothers. About 285,000 working couples should be eligible.
Parents will be entitled to share maternity leave if they have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks at the end of the 15th week before the birth and still work for the employer in the first week the leave is to be taken.
Immediately after birth, mothers can take the maternity leave lasting two weeks. Then eligible couples will be able to decide how to share the other 50 weeks of maternity leave and up to 37 weeks of paid leave. Shared maternity leave can be taken in several separate blocks. Parents can decide which weeks of the first year of their child's life they will be at work or at home. They can even both take the leave at the same time.
Employers are reportedly not ready
The British government, headed by the Minister of Labour Jo Swinson, expect share maternity leave to bring a cultural change in the workplace and in society as a whole . It is expected, fathers will not be afraid or ashamed to stay home with their children. "Mothers and adopters will be able to choose when they return to work and fathers and partners will be able to spend more time bonding with their children during the precious early stages of their development," Jo Swinson was quoted on the HR Review website. She also expects economic benefits of the new law since employees are more productive and more motivated when they can work flexibly.
Most British websites focused on HR, published various surveys concluding that employers are not ready for the new law and lack sufficient knowledge about what they can expect. Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), the British educational and consulting organization that brings together employers, employees and other independent members who seek for ways of improving the quality of working life and business operation, has, therefore, prepared and published a practical guide for employers and employees.
Only time will tell how the new measures will actually work. An important discussion is, for example, being held about whether employers will proceed to voluntarily pay enhanced maternity leave that the new law allows.
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