SPL, combined with returns for the holidays, allows you to stay off until the day before baby turns 1 Can teachers use shared parental leave to stay off work for longer than on maternity/ adoption leave? It all depends on when you start your leave - but if you are taking a week or more off work before the baby is actually born/ child is placed then yes you will be able to extend your leave up to babies first birthday/ one year from matching date. When you curtail your materni

If I had a pound for every time I have heard this myth… I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog! It persist like some kind of folk lore amongst teachers – this idea that you must return to work for a day, a few days, a week… in order to be paid for the upcoming school holiday. Similarly we are frequently asked if it’s ok to start your leave on the first day of a term, or whether you might lose your pay for the holiday just passed if you don’t go back in for at least one day.

This is a topic that is close to my heart - as my first baby was due in the summer holidays. I remember the feeling of injustice at having worked the whole school year - more than earning my six weeks summer holiday pay - but facing the reality that most of that pay would end up being my 6 weeks of the only decent part of my occupational maternity pay offer! That’s what led me to discover SPL and its benefits in the first place, so ultimately it was a blessing in disguise, bu