Latest in Employment Law>Articles>If a woman takes shared parental leave (SPL), is she entitled to return to the same job when she returns to work between discontinuous blocks of leave?
If a woman takes shared parental leave (SPL), is she entitled to return to the same job when she returns to work between discontinuous blocks of leave?
Published on: 10/03/2023
Article Authors The main content of this article was provided by the following authors.
Chris Fullerton
Chris Fullerton

If a woman takes shared parental leave (SPL), is she entitled to return to the same job when she returns to work between discontinuous blocks of leave?

Whilst shared parental leave (SPL) must be taken in complete weeks, it can be taken as one continuous period or in discontinuous periods.

When returning to work after a period of SPL (or any combination of SPL, Statutory Maternity Leave or Statutory Adoption Leave) of 26 weeks or less, the employee has a right to return to the same job and the same terms and conditions as if she hadn’t been away.

This also applies when your employee returns to work after a period of SPL of more than 26 weeks, unless you can show that it is not reasonably practicable for her to return to her original job (for example, because the job no longer exists). In this case, you must offer a suitable job on terms and conditions that are no less favourable.

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 10/03/2023