shared parental leave and how it affects your business

<p> </p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Towards the end of last year, this very important piece of legislation came into force which will affect the majority of SMEs across the UK that employ staff.</span></p> <p>There have been a number of clients who have been asking us about how the new rules on maternity/paternity will affect them.</p> <p>Below is a quick summary to get you up to scratch.</p> <p>Well, in a nutshell it means that mothers, fathers, partners and adopters can choose exactly how to share the time off they will receive when their child is born or adopted.</p> <p>So, a mother or adopter can share this time with the father/partner, choose if they want to return in the interim, and then go back to their leave later.</p> <p>It is a useful piece of legislation for mothers/adopters who were working on a big project but had to leave for maternity. They can then resume their work while the father/adopter looks after the newborn and return back to motherhood/fatherhood once their work is finished.</p> <p>This flexibility is a great way for parents to share their work responsibilities. However, for employers it simply highlights the need to prepare</p> <p>quickly.</p> <p> </p> <p>Every mother or adopter who shares the responsibility of looking after their child with the father/partner qualifies.</p> <p>Furthermore, if they are an employee and fit the employment and earnings test, they will be eligible for Shared Parental Leave. This includes:</p> <p>For those adopting they must have been in employment with the company for at least 26 weeks when they told they have been matched with a child or adoption.</p> <p>One thing to note is that a family can still take Shared Parental Leave even if only one party meets the criteria. Taking the example of a self-employed parent who pass the eligibility tests allowing the other parent in the family to qualify.</p> <p> </p> <p>Any time from when the child is born/adopted and ends exactly 52 weeks from this date.</p> <p>Every employee is eligible to book their leave through three separate notices. If booked, this leave has to be taken in a full week block.</p> <p>The period of leave must be either taken all in one go, which the employer legally has to abide by, or in separate blocks which an employer can refuse.</p> <p>If this request is refused then by default this period must be taken as a continuous block unless it is withdrawn.</p> <p> </p> <p>In simple terms, it will have a great affect especially SMEs with key personnel within their team.</p> <p>Business that embrace this new legislation quickly and out the correct processes in place immediately will be the ones who will continue operating their daily operations in as smooth a manner as possible.</p> <p>Those who quickly embed this new legislation within their business policies will be the real winners.</p> <p> </p> <p>If you like this post, then tweet it by pasting the below URL to your social media feed <a href="http://tinyurl.com/oku9fzz">http://tinyurl.com/oku9fzz</a></p> <p> </p>