Shared Parental Leave (SPL)
Questions and Answers for ARU PhD studentship holders
Q.What is Shared Parental Leave?
A.SPLis new andis designed to allow eligible parents to take leave flexibly in the first year after their child is born or placed for adoption. It applies to children expected to be born or placed for adoption on or after 05 April 2015.
Q.How do I know if I’m eligible to take SPL?
A.To qualify for SPL you must share the primary responsibility for the child with the other parent at the time of the birth/placement.
Q.How much SPL can I have?
A.If you are eligible, you may be able to take up to 50 weeks SPL. This must be taken before the child’s first birthday or a year after being placed for adoption.
Q.When can SPL start?
A.As a mother or primary adopter, you must take a minimum of two weeks maternity/adoption leave. As long as you are eligible and have given the required notice, then approved SPL can start at any time after this.
Q.How much notice do I need to give?
A.For each period of SPL being requested you will need to give us eight weeks’ written notice setting out the start/end dates of each period of SPL being requested.
Q.Do I have to take SPL in one continuous block?
A.You can request to take a block of continuous leave which must be taken in complete weeks. You can also ask to take SPL over different blocks of time with breaks between the leave where you return to study which is called discontinuous leave.
Q.How many times can I request for SPL?
A.You can request up to three periods of SPL and as part of each request you can ask for a period of continuous or discontinuous leave.
Q.Can my supervisor say no to my request for SPL?
A.If you are eligible and have given eight weeks’ notice to take a block of continuous leave then this must be approved. If the request is for a discontinuousperiod of leave, then while every effort will be made to accommodate the request it may not be possible to agree it. In such cases your supervisor will meet with you to discuss any mutually agreeable alternatives. If no suitable alternatives can be agreed then you will need to decide if you want to take it as a continuous block or withdraw the request completely (which means it will not count towards one of your three requests).
Q.What if my SPL has been approved and I change my mind?
A.You can vary or cancel an agreed periodof SPL as long as you notify us in writing at least eight weeks before the arranged start date. Any new start date cannot be sooner than eight weeks from the date of the variation request.Any request to vary or cancel an agreed period of SPL will count as a new notification and will reduce your total amount of available requests by one.
Q.What if my baby is born early and I have already booked SPL?
A.If your baby is born earlier than expected and you have booked a period of SPL within the first eight weeks of the due date, you can take the same period of time off after the birth without having to provide eight weeks’ notice. This would not reduce your total amount of available requests. If you had booked SPL after the first eight weeks of your baby’s due date then you will still need to give eight weeks’ notice to vary your leave.
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