Understanding Shared Parental Leave
Shared Parental Leave (SPL) offers a fantastic opportunity for teachers to receive pay during school holidays that happen to fall within their maternity/adoption leave! While some teachers feel that holiday accrual and maternity/adoption pay could be more in line with other professions like nursing, the police, or the private sector, SPL really steps in to provide a valuable option. It's a unique way to ensure teachers maximise their time with their little ones and still benefit from those much-needed extra weeks of full pay.​​
WHY IS SPL BENEFICIAL FOR TEACHERS?
HOW IT WORKS
​​While maternity/adoption leave must be continuous, SPL can be taken in up to three separate blocks. The unique benefit for teachers is that if you "return to work" during a school holiday between SPL blocks, you'll be paid in full without actually having to go into school. Your employer cannot require you to work during this time unless all staff are also required to.
WHEN TO START SPL
You can apply for SPL at any point, even after your baby is born/child has been placed with you. You just need to give your employer 8 weeks' notice that you wish to end your maternity/adoption leave and start SPL. For most teachers, we recommend starting SPL once occupational pay has stopped.
SHARING THE LEAVE
Once you've curtailed your maternity/adoption leave, you and your child's other parent can share any remaining statutory pay (up to 39 weeks total) as you choose. They can take no leave, take time off with you, or take time off when you're back at work (provided they qualify). Statutory pay pauses when you return to work between SPL blocks and resumes when you go back on leave. All leave must be taken before your child turns one/within 1 year of placement.
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If the father/your partner actually wants to take SPL, and is eligible to take leave themselves, they can take leave at any point during the year – at the same time as you, when you are ‘returned to work’ or when you have genuinely returned to work. If they don’t take SPL, their pay will not be affected at all by your leave/ return to work. If they do take leave, the entitlement to 39 weeks statutory pay will be shared between you. Have a look at our Case Studies for examples of this!​​
PAY DURING SPL
SPL is typically paid at the statutory rate of £187.18 per week (or 90% of your earnings, if lower). Unlike some maternity pay/adoption, there's no initial 6 weeks at 90% of your earnings.​
Some schools or Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) offer enhanced Shared Parental Pay (ShPP), which might match their enhanced maternity/adoption leave pay (e.g., 6 weeks at 90% and an additional 12 weeks at 50% plus statutory pay).​ If your school doesn't have an SPL policy, assume you'll receive only the statutory payments. If your school doesn't offer enhanced ShPP, you can choose to start SPL after you've received any enhanced maternity pay you're entitled to (like the initial 6 weeks at 90% or any 50% pay period).​
To maximize your pay:
- If your school only offers basic Shared Parental Pay (ShPP): Plan to use up any enhanced maternity pay before starting SPL. However, if your enhanced maternity pay ends around the summer holidays, it might be better to switch to SPL sooner to get those 6 weeks of full pay for the holidays.
- If your school offers enhanced ShPP: You'll have more flexibility in how you structure your leave.
EXTENDING MATERNITY LEAVE BEYOND A YEAR WITH SPL
For teachers considering over a year of leave, the optimal way to plan your Shared Parental Leave (SPL) largely depends on your baby's due date.​ If you commence your maternity leave before your baby's due date, you may be able to extend your total leave period beyond 12 months. This is achieved by fully utilising your 52 weeks of Shared Parental Leave entitlement, provided you return to work by your child's first birthday. ​This flexibility is possible because any "return to work" during school holiday periods does not reduce your overall leave entitlement, effectively allowing you to maximise your time with your child while on leave.
Quick Links
"Brilliant service - Kinza and Hannah always responded really quickly and answered any questions I had. I was originally going to submit the forms myself but decided to use Teachers SPL and I'm so glad I did. The forms would have taken me much longer to get my head around and Hannah also worked out that I could get an extra week's pay. Definitely recommend!"
- Claire B
"TeachersSPL have been absolutely fantastic. Kinza has helped me to secure the maximum amount of additional pay that I could acquire during my maternity leave (for me 5 weeks) which has enabled me to spend even more time with my daughter. I am enormously grateful and can’t recommend them enough. If you are a teacher soon to commence maternity leave, you must use them!"
- Amy T
"Amazing experience- super responsive, answered all my questions, helped with my dates and paperwork. Couldn't have asked for me- thank you so much!"
- Sophie L
"I had no idea how to fill the forms in for SPL (baby brain!) and Kinza was incredible at helping me to work out the best holidays to take SPL. As a result I was able to take a longer maternity leave, getting hundreds £ back in my pay. Don’t hesitate to use their services. Thank you so much!"
- Sophia H
"I used TeachersSPL to fill in the forms to apply for 4 weeks holiday pay during my maternity leave. Kinza was absolutely incredible the whole time, from the beginning when I had no idea how it worked to the end when the local authority had missed payments. She was so helpful and answered my questions throughout. I’m so grateful to TeachersSPL for the additional pay which has meant I’ve been able to have longer off with my little one. I recommend them to any teacher out there due to go on maternity leave! Thank you!"
- Lucy B
Example 1 - Melissa's Maternity Leave and SPL (school does not enhance ShPP)
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​Melissa works for a school that offers maternity pay of 6 weeks at 90% and 12 weeks at 50% plus statutory maternity pay, but only offers the basic ShPP.
Melissa's baby is due on the 1st December and she plans to work until 2 weeks before her due date, and she wants to take a full year's leave. Her husband is eligible for SPL but does not intend to actually take any leave beyond his 2 weeks of Paternity Leave.
Melissa will make the most of SPL by doing the following:
Examples Of How To Use SPL
​She'll get the standard statutory pay, plus 9 extra weeks at full pay, without needing to go into work during school holidays. (Asking her to come in would be discriminatory unless all staff at her level are also required).
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She can also use 20 SPLiT days (similar to KIT days on maternity leave) to work without ending her leave.
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Because she's taking the leave in three blocks, her school cannot refuse her application. If she takes 52 weeks off, she'll get 39 weeks of statutory pay (which includes the first 6 weeks at 90% and 12 weeks at 50% more than the statutory rate). Plus, she'll receive those 9 additional weeks at full pay, meaning she'll only have 4 weeks of unpaid leave.​​
Example 2​ - Rachel's Maternity Leave and SPL (school offers enhanced ShPP)
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Rachel works for a MAT who offer ShPP at the same rate that they offer occupational Maternity pay (6 weeks at 90%, 12 weeks at 50% plus statutory pay, the remaining 21 weeks at statutory rate).
Rachel is due in June and is commencing her Maternity Leave on 1st June. Her husband is eligible for SPL, but won’t take any leave himself. Rachel intends to take the full year.
Rachel will make the most of SPL by doing the following:
She'll get all her usual maternity pay, plus an extra 10 weeks of full pay! This means she can take a full year off work with only 3 weeks unpaid.
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