Shared parental leave

Shared parental leave

Telling your line manager

You should tell your line manager about your intention to take ShPL as early as possible. It is recommended that you meet with your line manager to plan arrangements and to discuss any potential issues anticipated, or arising, due to the ShPL. This may be used as an opportunity to clarify the options available eg. maternity / adoption, paternity leave, shared parental leave and your statutory and contractual entitlements. It may also be used to discuss whether any periods of discontinuous leave are likely to be accommodated. This will depend on the practicalities of managing the workload, implications for other staff etc.

Providing the necessary information for Shared Parental Leave

There are a number of forms, which individuals wanting to take Shared Parental Leave may need to complete. These are detailed below:

Responding to requests for Shared Parental Leave/Pay

Requests for continuous periods of leave

Where you request one continuous period of leave (i.e. the period of leave will be taken and then you return to work and take no further leave) this must be granted. This is in line with the legislation on Shared Parental Leave.

Requests for discontinuous periods of leave

Whilst there is no entitlement for employees to have periods of discontinuous shared parental leave agreed, in exceptional circumstances, it may be possible to accommodate such requests. Where discontinuous periods of leave are requested, your line manager should initially discuss the practicalities with the Head of Department to establish whether they can be accommodated without difficulty and with the HR Advisor to ensure consistency of approach. If it is considered practicable to accommodate such a request, following discussion with the HoD and HR Advisor, your manager should verbally inform you and then confirm the agreement to hr-enquiries@york.ac.uk (HR Services) who will write to confirm the arrangements as soon as possible.

Where there are concerns, your line manager should seek to discuss the request with you at the earliest opportunity. It is expected that your manager will meet with you regarding the request within 14 days of you submitting your period of leave notice. Your line manager should make you aware of any practical concerns they may have, as well as providing an opportunity to explore alternatives with a view to finding a mutually acceptable solution.

Managers should ensure these discussions take place within a reasonable timescale and that once a decision is made it is communicated to you as quickly as possible.

Where it is not reasonably practicable to accommodate a request for discontinuous leave, this will be refused. If refused, you may either:

  • Make an alternative request for leave (providing you haven't already exhausted your 3 requests)
  • Take the total amount of leave you had requested in one continuous block