New rights for employees who are parents to take shared parental leave (SPL) in the first year of their child's life come in to force on 1 December 2014. The scheme will apply in relation to children whose expected week of childbirth begins on or after the 5 April 2015 or who are placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015. This blog sets out some information for employers to think about and what steps they should take next.

For births, a mother who is entitled to statutory maternity leave, statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance may curtail her entitlement so that she and the other parent may share the balance of leave, pay or allowance period as shared parental leave. Following 2 weeks of compulsory maternity leave, the remaining 50 weeks of maternity leave is effectively 'up for grabs' and can be shared between both parents of the child. The parent who wishes to opt into the SPL scheme and who is an employee will need to give their employer a notice of entitlement and intention to take SPL. This is a non-binding indication of how and when a parent intends to take a period of SPL and it needs to be given at least 8 weeks before the start of the first proposed period of SPL.

In the case of adoptions, a 'primary adopter' whose entitlement to statutory adoption leave or statutory adoption pay may curtail their entitlement so that they and the child's other adoptive parent may share the balance of the leave or pay period as SPL.

Although it is unclear at this moment how many people will actually take up this new right, employers need to think through the implications for their business and how they will deal with any requests made by employees.

It is advisable therefore that employers put in place an appropriate shared parental leave policy which should:

• Explain the concept of SPL
• Set out how much SPL is available
• Define who is eligible for SPL
• Detail the notice requirements for SPL
• State what happens if a continued period of SPL is requested
• State what happens if a discontinued period of SPL is requested
• Spell out how much pay is available
• Clarify employees rights during SPL
• Acknowledge the right to keep in contact with the employee during SPL
• Inform the employee of rights on returning to work following SPL