>Chris is a partner in the Employment Law Group of the Arthur Cox Belfast Office in Northern Ireland.
Chris has extensive experience dealing with both contentious and non-contentious employment law matters. Chris advises a range of employers on all aspects of employment law including executive appointments, severance, grievances, disciplinary issues and trade union matters. Chris has represented clients before the Industrial Tribunal, Fair Employment Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland in employment litigation such as unfair dismissal, equality/discrimination and whistleblowing. Chris’ practice area includes advisory work and corporate transactions.
Are Employees Who Take Shared Parental Leave Entitled to Return to the Same Job?
Shared parental leave entitles a child’s mother and a second person (whether that be the child’s father or a partner) to share up to 50 of the 52 weeks of time off work. The overall amount of leave is not extended but rather, it allows leave to be shared equally between those two people.
An employee’s right to return to work after shared parental leave, will be dependent on the amount of relevant statutory leave taken. If less than 26 weeks were taken (which does not have to be taken consecutively), the employee is entitled to return to their former role provided it is reasonably practicable for the employer.
In certain exceptional circumstances an employee will not have an absolute right to return to his or her old job. These are:
- Where the sum total of all periods of relevant statutory leave taken by him or her in relation to the relevant child is more than 26 weeks
- Where the period of shared parental leave from which he or she has returned: was the last of two or more consecutive periods of relevant statutory leave and; one of those consecutive periods of leave was a period of parental leave of more than 4 weeks.
- Where the period of shared parental leave from which the mother has returned: was the last of two or more consecutive periods of relevant statutory leave and; one of those consecutive periods of leave was a period of additional maternity leave
- Where the period of shared parental leave from which the employee has returned: was the last of two or more consecutive periods of relevant statutory leave and; one of those consecutive periods of leave was a period of additional adoption leave
In these circumstances the employee may return to a suitable alternative job. The alternative job must: preserve the employee’s seniority, pension rights and any other rights and benefits as if there had been no absence and; on terms and conditions not less favourable than those which would have applied if there had been no absence
Continue reading
We help hundreds of people like you understand how the latest changes in employment law impact your business.
Please log in to view the full article.
What you'll get:
- Help understand the ramifications of each important case from NI, GB and Europe
- Ensure your organisation's policies and procedures are fully compliant with NI law
- 24/7 access to all the content in the Legal Island Vault for research case law and HR issues
- Receive free preliminary advice on workplace issues from the employment team
Already a subscriber? Log in now or start a free trial