2.37 Shared Parental Leave

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2.37 Shared Parental Leave

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Internal, Shared Parental Leave Policy, Version1, Page 1 of 6 Internal, April 2015

2.37 Shared Parental Leave

We want to support all of our colleagues and if you’re a parent, this document outlines our policy regarding shared parental leave. It is subject to change from time to time so please ensure you are reading the most up-todate version. This document does not provide full guidance. You can find this in the places listed at the end.

The right to take shared parental leave applies to:     

This policy is applicable to Tesco colleagues who are due to expand your family on or after 5th April 2015. It’s is to be used as a reference to provide an overview of the key facts.

Shared parental leave is a new way that parents can take time off work and it applies to you if you are sharing the care of your child in the first year of your birth/placement. Mums/primary carers will continue to be entitled to 52 weeks of maternity/adoption leave and, if you want to (and you’re eligible – see point 4 below) can end your maternity/adoption leave early and decide to take shared parental leave instead of maternity/adoption leave, with your partner/the child's father. Up to 50 weeks’ leave can be shared as mums/primary adopters need to have at least 2 weeks off work after the birth/placement of your baby. Dads/partners/secondary carers are still entitled to two weeks’ paternity leave.

The child’s mum The child’s primary carer (the parent taking adoption leave) The child’s dad The spouse or partner of the mum (doesn’t have to be the dad) including civil partnership. The child’s secondary carer (the adoptive parent taking paternity leave)

NB: Both must share the responsibility to care for the child Your manager may choose to keep in touch with you to update you on the business and any changes while you’re on shared parental leave.

If you’re taking maternity or adoption leave, you will continue to be entitled to 39 weeks of statutory maternity/adoption pay or maternity/adoption allowance. If you decide to end your maternity/adoption leave within 39 weeks then any remaining pay can be shared between you and your partner. For example: You decide to end your maternity leave after 26 weeks’ maternity leave, and return to work. Your partner takes 26 weeks’ shared parental leave and can also be paid the remaining 13 weeks’ statutory maternity pay as statutory shared parental pay.

If you both meet the qualifying requirements, you’ll need to decide how you want to divide your leave. You can take time off together or at separate times.

Shared parental pay is £139.58 a week. If you are entitled to 14 weeks’ full pay (maternity/adoption), and opt to take shared parental leave during this time, then you will drop to this rate and lose your full pay entitlement.

Shared parental leave must be taken in blocks of at least one week and can start on any day (if a weeks’ shared parental leave started on a Wednesday then it would end on the following Tuesday).

Please refer to OurTesco for an eligibility checklist.

Shared parental leave doesn’t have to be taken in one block; you can ask to split your leave across the year in any way you choose as long as it’s taken before the child’s first birthday/within a year of placement. In the case of multiple births, there’s no increase in entitlement to shared parental leave. Internal, Shared Parental Leave Policy, Version1, Page 2 of 6 Internal, April 2015

2.37 Shared Parental Leave

Mum/primary carer is eligible for leave and pay if: Mum or primary carer



Have at least 26 weeks’ service, 15 weeks before the date on your MatB1/date of the matching certificate Be entitled to statutory maternity/adoption pay Share the care of the child with the other parent and intend to care for the child during your leave Completed Form A and submitted it to your manager Complied with any requests for additional evidence Have at least 26 weeks’ service, 15 weeks before the date on your MatB1/date of the matching certificate Be employed (or self-employed) for at least 26 weeks of the 66 weeks before the date on the MatB1/week notified of matching Have average earnings of at least £30 in 13 of those 66 weeks Share the care of the child with the other parent

    Other parent

 

 

a minimum of eight weeks before you want your leave to start Dads/partners/secondary carers who work for Tesco, Fill in Form B, available on OurTesco, a minimum of eight weeks before you want your leave to start

Fill in Form C which should be handed to the manager along with Form A or B.

You can make 3 separate requests for shared parental leave. If you want to make more than this then it is at the manager’s discretion whether or not to consider this.

If you request a continuous period of leave e.g. 12 weeks from 1st March to 24th May then this will be granted, and the manager should confirm this in writing to you. If you make a request for discontinuous leave e.g. you complete Form A or B with the following pattern of leave: 8 weeks’ shared parental leave then… 4 weeks’ work then… 8 weeks’ shared parental leave then…

Dad/partner/secondary carer is eligible for leave and pay if: Dad, partner or secondary carer

    

Other parent

  

Have at least 26 weeks’ service, 15 weeks before the date on the MatB1/ date of the matching certificate Have normal weekly earnings of £112 or more Share the care of the child with the other parent and intend to care for the child during your leave Completed Form B and submitted it to your manager Complied with any requests for additional evidence Have at least 26 weeks’ service, 15 weeks before the date on the MatB1/ date of the matching certificate Earn above £112 in the 2 pay periods, 15 weeks before the due date Share the care of the child with the other parent

8 weeks’ work (inc’ 2 weeks holiday) then… 8 weeks’ shared parental leave then… Back at work!

This counts as one request and we can consider whether or not to grant it. We will meet with you and:   

Your manager has 14 days from receiving the request form to agree a discontinuous leave request with you. If no agreement is reached (including if the manager simply doesn’t respond to your request) then you can either: 

Mums/Primary carers who work for Tesco Fill in Form A, available on OurTesco,

Partners of Tesco colleagues

agree to the request; agree to a compromise arrangement; or refuse to grant the request.



withdraw your request (and this now won’t count as one of your three requests); or take the leave as a period of continuous leave from the date the discontinuous leave would have started, unless you choose a later date to start it.

Internal, Shared Parental Leave Policy, Version1, Page 3 of 6 Internal, April 2015

2.37 Shared Parental Leave If your child dies before you have submitted Form A or B, you cannot opt into shared parental leave because a qualifying condition is caring for a child. If you have submitted Form A or B you are still entitled to take the leave. No further requests can be submitted, and only 1 variation notice can be given to reduce a period of leave or to rearrange a discontinuous leave arrangement into a single block. If you’re a mum/primary carer then you can change your decision to end maternity/adoption leave early if the planned end date of your leave hasn’t already passed and you haven’t returned to work. One of the following must also apply: 

 

you find out during the 8-week notice period that neither of you are eligible for shared parental leave or pay your partner dies you tell your manager that you want to change your leave less than 6 weeks after you’ve had your baby/the child is placed with you (and you gave us Form A before the birth/placement).

If you have submitted form A or B and then want to change the dates of your shared parental leave, you must let your manager know, in writing, within eight weeks of the date you want your leave to start. This would count as another request. If you have shared parental leave agreed, and it’s within eight weeks of your start date, we can refuse your request to change the dates if it’s not reasonably practical for you to be in work e.g. we have already arranged cover for your role while you are on leave and this cannot be rearranged.

You are able to work for up to 20 days while you are on shared parental leave without this affecting your right to the leave or any pay you may be receiving. This is on top of the 10 Keeping in Touch days a colleague is entitled to while on maternity/adoption leave. These days at work are called ‘Shared Parental Leave in Touch’ (SPLiT) days and can be taken as single days or a block of days, as agreed with your manager. If you use a SPLiT day while receiving the shared parental pay, we will top this up to your normal daily rate or you can choose take a day off in lieu once you return to work instead. If you use a SPLiT day while not receiving any pay, we will pay a full day’s pay. Any work carried out while on adoption leave is classed as a ‘SPLiT’ day, a colleague can’t request 40 half days.

Benefits

Your circumstances change: If your circumstances change and you’re no longer caring for the child then your entitlement to shared parental leave and pay stops immediately and you should tell your manager. You or your partner die: If you or your partner die during the child’s first year then the other parent will continue to be eligible for shared parental leave and pay. Any shared parental leave and pay that was due to be taken by the deceased parent may be transferred to the other parent.

The majority of benefits will remain unchanged while you are on shared parental leave. Please login to www.ourtesco.com for information on how your benefits will be affected. Careers When you’re on shared parental leave, you will be included in any talent conversations, where appropriate. Legally you cannot return to work in the first two weeks following birth/adoption. We look after returners and will consider retraining, job shadowing, handovers etc. where appropriate to facilitate a smooth return to work. Health and Safety Risk Assessment

Your child dies:

Internal, Shared Parental Leave Policy, Version1, Page 4 of 6 Internal, April 2015

2.37 Shared Parental Leave If you return to work within six months of having a baby or while you are breastfeeding, we will conduct a further health & safety risk assessment.

Personal days should be taken in the normal way and will only be paid if you are on shared parental leave at the end of March.

Holidays, Bank Holidays and Personal Day Holidays and Bank holidays continue to be accrued during shared parental leave and we will automatically pay any accrued holidays in April after the end of the current holiday year, if you remain on leave at this time.

If you want to carry over your holidays, you need to inform your Personnel Manager of this before the beginning of March. Carried over holiday can be used in the following ways:   

take all of your holiday at the end of your shared parental leave to give you longer off work; use holiday to help phase a return to work (as agreed with your manager); or use holidays in the normal way after you return.

     

Internal, Shared Parental Leave Policy, Version1, Page 5 of 6 Internal, April 2015

2.37 Shared Parental Leave

1

1st April 2015

New policy

This document shouldn’t be shared with anyone externally without permission from your Director. This policy and any associated documentation remains the property of Tesco and should be returned if requested.

Internal, Shared Parental Leave Policy, Version1, Page 6 of 6 Internal, April 2015