NHS Shared Parental Leave: pay, eligibility and planning your time off

How Shared Parental Leave works

Shared Parental Leave, usually shortened to SPL, lets eligible parents share the unused part of maternity or adoption leave. Usually, the birth parent or primary adopter ends that leave early, or gives binding notice of when it will end. The remaining leave can then be taken by either eligible parent, together or at different times. If the mother or adopter does not have maternity or adoption leave, ending their maternity pay, adoption pay or Maternity Allowance can instead allow an eligible partner to take SPL.

There are two balances to keep track of. Leave comes from a total of 52 weeks, while statutory pay comes from a total of 39 weeks. In an ordinary birth case, the mother must take at least two weeks of maternity leave after the birth, or four weeks if they work in a factory. That leaves a maximum of 50 weeks of SPL and 37 weeks of Statutory Shared Parental Pay, known as ShPP. Taking more maternity leave or pay reduces what remains. Any maternity weeks taken before the birth count too. Adoption also requires at least two weeks before switching.

If maternity leave and pay end after 12 weeks, for example, the couple has 40 weeks of SPL and 27 weeks of statutory pay left. Those are shared totals. Four weeks of SPL taken by both parents at the same time uses eight weeks of the leave balance.

SPL must fit within the first year after birth or adoption placement. A partner may be able to start SPL while the birth parent is still on maternity leave, provided binding notice has been given to end it. The birth parent does not have to go back to work for a day simply to make the switch. See GOV.UK's explanation of starting SPL and Northern Ireland's SPL guidance.

Start with the rules for your nation

The statutory framework and NHS contract sit alongside each other. A local family leave policy explains how your employer administers them. These are the main starting points for staff on Agenda for Change terms.

England

For an ordinary birth case, the NHS occupational scheme requires 12 months of continuous service with one or more NHS employers at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. You must give the required notice and intend to return to the same or another NHS employer for at least three months after SPL. Previous NHS service can therefore matter even when you have recently moved Trusts. Your statutory entitlement needs its own check.

The standard occupational SPL pattern is up to six weeks at full pay, then 18 weeks at half pay plus any ShPP, followed by statutory-only and unpaid weeks. Those are maximum remaining allowances after the compulsory maternity or adoption period, subject to the deductions explained below. Someone who has already taken 26 weeks of NHS maternity pay will normally have used the standard full-pay and half-pay entitlement; switching to SPL does not restart it.

Ask payroll for the weekly earnings figure used for your occupational pay, including the treatment of relevant allowances, pay awards and pay-point changes. Your basic annual salary alone may not give the correct answer. NHS handbook, paragraphs 15.18 and 15.62–64.

Wales

The NHS Staff Council introduced enhanced SPL for England and Wales under section 15. The national AfC structure therefore includes the same six-week full-pay and 18-week half-pay maximum, reduced by the maternity or adoption pay already used or committed. For birth cases, the national occupational service checkpoint is the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth, with a three-month NHS return commitment. NHS Staff Council's England and Wales agreement and current section 15.

Use your health board or Trust's current application process. Some publicly available Welsh policies use different qualifying-week wording or concentrate on statutory pay. If your copy seems to disagree with the national terms, ask HR to identify the current provision that applies to your contract before you give a binding end date for maternity leave.

Annual leave has a Welsh distinction too. The national allowance on appointment is 28 days plus eight public holidays for a full-time employee, rising to 29 days after five years and 33 after ten. Check your balance in hours if you work shifts or part time. NHS handbook, section 13.

If you have arranged to spread maternity pay across the year, ask how switching to SPL will change that arrangement. HEIW's published policy, for example, says payroll may need to recalculate payments to prevent an overpayment or underpayment. A smooth monthly payment does not mean that the underlying entitlement has stopped being used. HEIW family leave policy, section 12.5, page 33.

Scotland

NHSScotland calls its national workforce policy the Shared Maternity and Shared Adoption Policy. For birth cases, it confirms the 12-month NHS service test at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth, and the intention to return for at least three months. The current Scottish AfC handbook also confirms the joint occupational pay limit and the standard six full-pay weeks followed by 18 half-pay weeks, subject to previous maternity or adoption pay. Read these together rather than treating the short pay summary as a new allowance for each parent. Scottish AfC handbook, section 15 and NHSScotland's policy.

The Scottish employee guide says the three-month return can be to another NHS employer in the UK. Bank or agency work does not count as that return. It also says you can discuss whether accrued annual leave can count towards the period of paid employment. Get the arrangement agreed before relying on it.

Annual leave and public holidays continue to build up during SPL. The Scottish standard remains 27, 29 or 33 annual-leave days depending on service, plus eight public holidays. The current handbook uses a 7.2-hour standard day, so copying an English hours calculation can produce the wrong balance. Your board can confirm the hours for your working pattern. Scottish employee guide and Scottish handbook, section 13.

One point needs care when reading older policies. Statutory paternity leave can now follow SPL in England, Wales and Scotland, following the change on 6 April 2026. The Scottish policy still contains older wording about losing unused new parent support leave. Ask your board to confirm how its contractual support pay works alongside the current statutory right. Acas: planning SPL.

Northern Ireland

For Health and Social Care staff, start with your employer's current SPL policy and the Department of Health's published occupational pay circular, HSC(GEN)1/2018. The circular sets out eight weeks at full pay less occupational maternity or paternity leave and pay already taken, followed by 18 weeks at half pay with the relevant statutory payment, then 13 statutory-paid weeks. It explicitly says that a father or partner who has taken occupational paternity pay has a maximum of six full-pay weeks. Where both parents work in HSC and qualify, they share the overall allowance. Department of Health circular, paragraphs 3–4.

That paternity deduction is different from the England and Wales guidance. Do not use an England example to predict your HSC payment. The published circular dates from 2018 and must be read with your employer's policy, so ask payroll for a written allocation showing what has been deducted and what remains.

Check the occupational service and return conditions explicitly. Belfast Trust's published policy, for example, uses 52 weeks of HSC/NHS service at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth and excludes bank-only staff from occupational pay. That is an employer example, not confirmation of every HSC organisation's current terms. Ask your own employer what return period and repayment conditions apply specifically to SPL. Belfast Trust Family Policy Pack, section E.

Northern Ireland's statutory paternity rules also need separate planning. Current nidirect guidance says paternity leave requires 26 weeks of service, is taken as one week or two consecutive weeks within 56 days of birth, and cannot be taken after SPL. The April 2026 changes in Great Britain should not be assumed to apply. nidirect: paternity leave.

Public holidays accrue during SPL under the HSC guidance. The standard AfC allowance includes ten public holidays in Northern Ireland, rather than the eight commonly shown in England examples. Agree how the accrued time will be taken and use your employer's current holiday calendar. The HSC circular does not create an automatic right to cash the days in. HSC public-holiday accrual guidance and NHS handbook, section 13.

Check leave, statutory pay and NHS pay separately

Qualifying for one does not automatically establish the others. For a birth case, the parent taking statutory SPL normally needs to be an employee with at least 26 weeks of continuous employment with the same employer by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. Continuing-employment conditions also apply. NHS service across several organisations is not automatically the same as this statutory test.

The other parent must meet an employment and earnings test: broadly, work in at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the baby is due and at least £390 of earnings across 13 of those weeks. Those weeks need not be consecutive. If both parents want to take SPL, each must meet the conditions for taking it. If only one parent qualifies to take leave, they may still be able to use SPL themselves, provided the other parent's test and the remaining conditions are met. GOV.UK: birth-parent eligibility; nidirect: eligibility.

ShPP has a separate earnings test. The current lower earnings limit is £129 a week on average; the relevant qualifying period determines which threshold applies. ShPP in 2026/27 is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Unlike the first six weeks of SMP, ShPP has that weekly cap from the start. A worker may qualify for statutory pay without having an employee's right to SPL. GOV.UK: pay and limits, 2026/27 employer rates.

For adoption, the matching week replaces the expected-birth checkpoint in the relevant tests. Parents using a surrogate have separate parental-order and due-date conditions. The GB NHS occupational terms also use a different service checkpoint for surrogacy from an ordinary birth case. Check the appropriate route rather than substituting dates into a maternity example. GOV.UK: adoption and surrogacy, NHS handbook, paragraph 15.18, Northern Ireland eligibility.

How the NHS occupational pay allowance is used

For England, Wales and Scotland, the standard maximum remaining pattern after the compulsory two weeks is shown below. It is one shared allowance, reduced by maternity or adoption pay already taken or committed. It is not a fresh package when SPL starts. Northern Ireland readers should use the HSC section above.

Across maternity, adoption and SPL, the standard joint occupational limit is eight full-pay weeks, including the compulsory two weeks, and 18 half-pay weeks. If the birth parent takes eight weeks of full maternity pay and four weeks of half maternity pay, the couple has 14 half-pay weeks remaining. Moving the next block to the other parent does not restore the full-pay weeks. NHS handbook, paragraphs 15.62–64; Scottish handbook, paragraphs 15.62–64.

Your partner does not need to work for the NHS. Their maternity or adoption pay can still reduce the NHS occupational balance, including where they receive statutory maternity pay without an employer top-up. NHS Employers' examples also show maternity allowance reducing the occupational balance in England and Wales. The type of payment matters: do not treat every payment under a non-NHS employer's SPL scheme as interchangeable with maternity pay. Give payroll both parents' leave and pay schedules, including any enhancements, and ask it to explain the calculation. NHS Employers' current scenarios and Staff Council examples.

Where both parents are NHS employees, agree who will use the remaining full-pay and half-pay weeks. The occupational payment is based on the pay of the employee receiving it. Compare the complete household position, including the salary each person would otherwise earn and the time you want together, before deciding on an allocation.

A worked example with two NHS parents

This illustration uses standard England, Wales or Scotland AfC terms, not the Northern Ireland HSC calculation. It shows how the balances fit together; it is not a recommendation or an eligibility assessment.

Suppose a baby is born on 6 April 2026 and maternity leave starts that day. Both parents qualify for the relevant leave and pay, give valid notice and meet the return conditions. Payroll has confirmed weekly full-pay figures of £800 for the birth parent and £700 for their partner. There are no pay changes, both qualify for the full statutory weekly rate, and pay is not spread differently by agreement.

The birth parent takes 12 weeks of maternity leave. Their partner then takes 14 weeks of SPL. The birth parent takes the remaining 26 weeks of SPL afterwards.

The 12 maternity weeks leave 40 weeks of SPL and 27 weeks of ShPP. Four of the 18 half-pay weeks have already been used during maternity leave, leaving 14 for the partner. The partner uses 14 of the remaining statutory-paid weeks, leaving 13 for the birth parent. The final 13 weeks are unpaid.

That is 52 weeks of combined maternity and shared leave, ending on 4 April 2027, before the first birthday. The illustrated leave payments total £18,923.92 before deductions. This is not the family's total income: it excludes the salary each parent earns while the other is on leave, any paternity pay and annual-leave pay. It also excludes tax, National Insurance and pension deductions. All paid weeks shown fall within the 2026/27 rate year.

Booking your leave and giving notice

Speak to your manager and payroll early, particularly if both parents work shifts. Ask for the current SPL policy, application forms and a written pay breakdown before committing to a maternity or adoption end date.

There are three parts to the paperwork: ending the relevant maternity or adoption leave and pay, or ending pay or Maternity Allowance where there is no leave entitlement; declaring entitlement and the intended allocation between parents; and booking the actual SPL dates. Employers may combine these in one form, but they do different jobs. You normally need at least eight weeks' written notice. GOV.UK: applying for SPL, ending leave or pay, and nidirect: starting SPL.

SPL is booked in whole weeks, but a week can start on any day. A continuous booking is one uninterrupted period of leave. If you qualify and give a valid notice, it cannot be refused simply because the dates are inconvenient. A discontinuous request contains separate periods with work in between; the employer can refuse that pattern and discuss alternatives. The usual GB limit is three booking or variation notices per parent, although an employer can agree more. Three separate continuous notices are different from one discontinuous request. Acas: booking leave; NHS handbook, paragraphs 15.49–59.

If a GB discontinuous request is not agreed after the two-week discussion period, you can normally take the requested total as one block or withdraw the notice within 15 days of submitting it so that it does not use one of your three notices. The 15 days run from the original notice, not from the end of the discussion. Northern Ireland also provides for separate blocks and employer agreement to a split pattern; use the NI booking process and your HSC forms.

Ending maternity or adoption leave is a more significant decision than changing a booking. A binding curtailment notice can only be withdrawn in limited circumstances. Once maternity leave has ended, it cannot simply be restarted after a gap. If the baby arrives early or your circumstances change, contact HR promptly before submitting replacement dates. GOV.UK: changing the decision to end leave.

Annual leave, public holidays and time away from the rota

Annual leave and public holidays continue to build up during paid and unpaid SPL under the NHS arrangements. Agree the balance, carryover and dates with your manager. For shift workers and part-time staff, a balance in hours is often more useful than a number of days. Scotland's standard-day calculation and Northern Ireland's public-holiday allowance differ from the England examples many people find online. NHS handbook, sections 13 and 15.94–95, Scottish employee guide, HSC holiday guidance.

You can discuss taking annual leave between SPL blocks or after SPL. It uses your existing holiday allowance and requires the usual agreement. It does not create extra SPL or move SPL beyond the child's first birthday. Record the end of the SPL block, the annual-leave dates and the first rostered shift separately so that payroll and your manager have the same plan.

If you take annual leave before using all of your maternity leave, it ends that maternity leave. A later period away would need a valid basis of its own, such as properly arranged SPL. You cannot pause maternity leave for a paid holiday and then restart it. Acas: holiday and maternity leave.

SPLiT days and returning to work

Each eligible parent can agree up to 20 Shared Parental Leave in Touch days, usually called SPLiT days. They can help with training, staying in contact or preparing to return. They are optional, need agreement and do not extend the leave period. Working part of a day uses a whole SPLiT day. GOV.UK technical guide: SPLiT days, nidirect: keeping in touch.

Agree the hours, payment and any time off in lieu in advance. The GB AfC terms offset leave pay against the payment for hours worked and provide a day or half-day of leave in lieu for a SPLiT day in the full-pay or half-pay phase respectively. The Scottish employee guide also addresses shift enhancements when a SPLiT day falls in unpaid leave. HSC staff should check their local payment arrangement. NHS handbook, paragraphs 15.67–76; Scottish employee guide.

For England, Wales and Scotland, receiving occupational SPL pay normally involves the commitment to return to NHS employment for at least three months. If your plans change, ask what repayment would be due before resigning. Statutory ShPP is not repayable merely because you decide not to return. Northern Ireland readers should obtain the return and repayment conditions from their HSC employer rather than assume the GB terms apply. NHS handbook, paragraphs 15.18 and 15.83; NHSScotland return guidance.

The NHS handbooks include a 28-day notice provision for returning early, while booking or varying SPL normally has an eight-week notice rule. Ask HR to confirm the process for the specific change you want to make and have the revised return date recorded. If you want different hours or a different pattern when you return, discuss that separately from the end of your SPL.

What to ask HR and payroll

Take both parents' proposed dates to the conversation, including maternity or adoption leave taken before the birth or placement. These questions will help turn the policy into a usable plan.

1. Which national terms and current local policy apply to my contract, and which previous NHS service counts?
2. Do I qualify separately for SPL, ShPP and occupational pay? Which dates and earnings period have you used?
3. What leave and pay has already been used or committed by each parent, and what is left in each balance?
4. How have you treated my partner's maternity, adoption, paternity or shared parental pay, including any non-NHS benefits?
5. What gross pay will I receive in each period, and how will pay awards, variable earnings, smoothing or pension deductions affect the payslips?
6. Which annual leave and public holidays will accrue, when can I take them, and what is my first rostered day back?
7. What return commitment, repayment terms and notice process apply if my plans change?

Keep the written answer with the notices you submit. It is particularly useful where the parents have different employers, work in different UK nations, or one is self-employed. A statutory eligibility checker can help with the legal basics; your employer still needs to confirm the occupational calculation for your contract.

Maternly for NHS staff

We are developing Maternly for NHS staff to help bring leave, pay and dates into one clear plan. The NHS planning service is not available yet. You can join NHS early access to hear when it is ready.

This guide was prepared by Maternly using the official sources linked throughout and checked on 14 October 2026. It is general guidance; your employer's current terms and written payroll calculation determine how the occupational scheme applies to you.