M Law

M Law

M Law LLP is a commercial law firm with an emphasis on entertainment and communications

+44 (0) 207 224 3000
Email: info@mlaw.com

MLAW
M Law LLP </br>First Floor <br> 83 Marylebone High Street<br>London <br> W1U 4QW

Open in Google Maps
  • WHO WE ARE
  • WHAT WE DO
  • JOIN US
  • NEWS & VIEWS
  • English
  • Chinese (Simplified)
  • Home
  • Blog
  • SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE
May 23, 2025

SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE

SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE

by Mlaw / Friday, 07 August 2015 / Published in Blog

Back in 2015, when the Government introduced Shared Parental Leave (SPL) overwhelmingly it was a positive move. SPL allows parents to take blocks of leave between periods of work, rather than taking a whole chunk of leave in one period with parents able to share up to 50 weeks between them.  Fathers could take time at home to spend with their children, and working parents could make a choice, rather than have women feel the burden of expectation on them to be the stay at home parent.

It won’t surprise readers to note that such a system has been the norm in Scandinavia for many years where Sweden became, in 1974, the first country to out-mode the concept of ‘maternity leave’ instead reverting to a gender neutral ‘parental leave policy’.

When the then deputy PM  Nick Clegg announced the SPL Regulations in 2014, he stated that the aim was to “sweep away those Edwardian rules which still hold back those families working hard to juggle their responsibilities at home and work”.

Whilst we won’t seek to deal with biology, and there’s no doubt that some women, after having had a particularly arduous labour, might prefer to take more time to recover – SPL has failed to take off. A recent study by the employee benefits organisation My Family Care, has argued that take up is “low, disappointing and worse than we all hoped”. Why might this be? Well despite the progressive nature of the policy, it seems that the majority of parents just aren’t aware of SPL’s existence.

There are perhaps three reasons why even amongst those who are aware of SPL, the take-up has been low…

1) The gender pay gap sadly still exists:  whilst many couples are firmly  “dual income”, Men still take home more money and therefore couples are worse off if leave is split.

2) Old stereotypes die harder than John McClane. My Family Care suggests that “taking time off to do a bit of nannying” is seen as “uncool” for men.

3) Some women simply aren’t that keen on giving their partners any of their maternity leave!

Another issue, reported the FT, is that HR policy on SPL often serves to impede SPL’s stated objective of limiting the effect of maternity on a woman’s career because it is often positioned in such a way as to restrict full pay benefits to fathers to the first period following the birth, rather than allowing it to be spread across blocks – as the regulations intend.
It is the attitudes of employers that is the key to the success of this policy. The government have stated that there will be no formal review until next year, by which time SPL will be three years oldAt present, the regulations are slightly tricky to interpret, which also doesn’t help. Women have to end their maternity leave to allow the father to take up his SPL. This also almost always involves stacks of forms which require to go between two companies, whom might have different approaches to SPL.

Tech companies in recent years, have been seen as the bastions of progression, with flexible approaches to work life balance, better office environs (and we’re just not talking about bean bags in the break out area), and an embracing of SPL.  Other companies have followed suit, slowly, but certain attitudes prevail – and this is perhaps a rare situation where the regulation is ahead of the market practice, rather than playing catch-up.

Any HR department seeking a review of their SPL policy should contact Neil Paterson for more information.

  • Tweet
Tagged under: convergence, niches, strategic

About Mlaw

What you can read next

Three Legal Conundrums in the Press This Week
Physician Heal Thyself…
TV FORMATS & COPYRIGHT: WHAT’S THE X-FACTOR?

Search

Recent Posts

  • Is the ‘Net’ Finally Closing in on the Online Robber Barons

    Is the ‘Net’ Finally Closing in on ...
  • Striking the Right Chord: Navigating Music Rights for Brands on TikTok and Instagram Reels

    Billy Jenks, consultant solicitor to M LAW Intr...
  • The Evolving Landscape of Football Player Image Rights in Video Games

    Billy Jenks, consultant solicitor to M LAW Intr...
  • More Musings on AI

    Oliver Fetiveau, Partner M LAW LLP Despite the ...
  • Will AI First Kill All the Lawyers?

    Matthew Higdon, Partner M LAW LLP Tony Blair sa...

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • December 2024
    • December 2023
    • September 2021
    • April 2021
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • August 2015

    Categories

    • Blog
    • News
    • Uncategorized

    Featured Posts

    • Is the ‘Net’ Finally Closing in on the Online Robber Barons

      0 comments
    • Striking the Right Chord: Navigating Music Rights for Brands on TikTok and Instagram Reels

      0 comments
    • The Evolving Landscape of Football Player Image Rights in Video Games

      0 comments
    • More Musings on AI

      0 comments
    • Will AI First Kill All the Lawyers?

      0 comments
    contact

    +44 (0) 207 224 3000

    M Law LLP
    First Floor
    83 Marylebone High Street
    London
    W1U 4QW

    info@mlaw.co.uk

    Mlaw © 2022 | Privacy Policy | Complaints Procedure

    MENU

    • WHO WE ARE
    • WHAT WE DO
    • JOIN US
    • NEWS & VIEWS
    • English
    • Chinese (Simplified)
    Please enter your MailChimp API KEY in the theme options panel prior to using this widget.

    GET IN TOUCH

    T +44 (0) 207 224 3000
    Email: info@mlaw.com

    MLAW
    M Law LLP 3a Montagu Row London W1U 6DZ

    Open in Google Maps

    Invalid or expired token.
    social sharing
    • GET SOCIAL
    M Law

    © 2019 All rights reserved. By MLAW.

    TOP