A little-known (but becoming more well-known) entitlement for those going on parental leave is SPL – Shared Parental Leave. I believe it was originally designed to encourage more men to take parental leave, however, it works brilliantly if you are a teacher!
The Teachers SPL website states “Shared Parental Leave is a statutory entitlement, that allows you (and your partner if you wish, but there is no requirement for them to take any leave) to take your maternity leave in up to four blocks (one period of maternity leave and up to three blocks of SPL). The unique benefit of this for teachers is that it allows you to get paid for the school holidays.”
Mothers are entitled to one year’s maternity leave; however, this is not one year of paid leave. Recommendations for the amount of paid leave and the percentage at which you are paid are outlined in the Burgandy Book and will also be in your school’s parental leave policy. In my case (and probably most people’s), it was four weeks of full pay, two weeks of 90%, twelve weeks of 50%, and then onto statutory maternity pay. I also had enhanced maternity pay which meant that I would receive SMP and OMP at the same time. Whilst this might be better than some sectors offer, it also isn’t the best offer that could be made. Many women feel the need to return to work for financial reasons when their babies are very young, and this is just so sad. Understandably, some women also choose to return to work before a year for their own reasons, After the birth of my first daughter Bella, I thought I would return to work after six months; however, this was not the case, and I took the year. With the cost-of-living crisis and more mouths to feed in the house since the last time I went on leave, I knew I would have to carefully consider whether I took a year or whether I returned sooner – and it broke my heart to think about leaving my baby before she was one. I had read about Shared Parental Leave and how this could benefit me, and I decided to apply to stretch out my leave, to be able to take the full year off again – like I did with my first.
In teaching, we don’t accrue holiday in the same way that other professions do, and our ‘holiday’ dates are set by term times. Shared Parental Leave levels the playing field for teachers and means that you can ‘return to work’ for the school holiday periods. Your maternity leave ends at the date you choose and any additional leave you take is counted as SPL rather than maternity leave. Many people believe that when you return to work, it means that your partner then has to take statutory paid leave and receive SMP or the equivalent – this is not the case, and this is where SPL works very well for teachers. If you choose to return to work in the summer holidays, you are still at home. You cannot be assigned any work to do unless other people are as this would be discriminatory. Everyone else in your school is being paid to be off – and the same applies to you. There are some caveats – and you may not be entitled to SPL (very few cases this will apply to). The majority are entitled to SPL, and this statutory entitlement cannot be turned down (unless you don’t meet the requirements). Eligibility for SPL can be found here https://www.teachersspl.co.uk/eligibility. Some schools may not be aware of SPL and may think you’re pulling a fast one – however, they can also be directed to the website below to find out more.
This website https://www.teachersspl.co.uk/ gives you everything you need to do to make an application. There is a fantastic video to talk you through how to fill out the paperwork – this is what I did. Or, you can pay Teachers SPL to fill out the paperwork for you. The paperwork is the hardest part as it can be a little bit complicated – but if you watch the video and follow it, then it’s not too tricky.
How it worked for me
Luna was born at the end of February which meant by the July-August summer holidays my income would be reduced to SMP only. I applied for SMP around Easter time, explaining to my school that I would be using Shared Parental Leave and the dates on which I would be returning to work. You need to give eight weeks’ notice to your school that you plan to use SPL. My school granted my request, and I did the following: (bearing in mind the SPL weeks are full weeks so need to start from a Monday).
- Commenced maternity leave mid-February 2023
- Finished maternity leave on the last day of the school term in term 6.
- Returned to work on the first Monday of the school holidays.
- Finished work on the last Friday before the school term commenced – this meant I was in school for a training day.
- Continued Shared Parental Leave until the last Friday of the Christmas Term.
- Returned to work on the first Monday of the Christmas Holiday.
- Finished work on the last Friday before Spring Term 1 commenced.
- Continued Shared Parental Leave until February half term.
- Returned to work fully in February half term 2024.
I could also have returned for the October half-term but chose not to. Altogether you can return to work for ten weeks. I returned to work for seven weeks altogether.
When taking SPL you also get 20 SPLIT days rather than 10 KIT days. SPLIT days are used in the same way as KIT days – but you get double the amount, which can also be really useful for settling back into the work. Remember you do not have to use any of the days, also your schools do not need to agree to any KIT or SPLIT days.
Another advantage, other than being paid fully for the school holidays, is that your SMP weeks stop and then resume when you are back on leave – stretching out your SMP. This means that instead of almost three months unpaid towards the end of my maternity leave I only had a month unpaid – which is far more manageable financially.
If you have a baby just before the summer holidays it would not be worth using SPL in the same way – as you will still be fully paid for the majority of the summer holidays – instead it would be better to use it for the other school holidays such as Christmas and Easter where your pay would have been reduced to SMP. If you are unsure what would work best then definitely talk to Teachers SPL.
If you are a teacher and are shortly about to commence parental leave, or you are currently on leave, or maybe you just know someone who is going on leave, please share Teachers SPL with them. This could make a real difference to income during leave and may mean that planned leave could be stretched for longer – giving you more precious time with your baby – after all, they’re only little once!
A huge, huge thanks to Kinza and her team who discovered how well SPL can work for teachers. It has honestly made such a difference. You’ll find me shouting from the rooftops about it!
