A third of employers with eligible employees have received requests for shared parental leave since its introduction in April 2015, according to research by XpertHR.
The research, which surveyed 397 organisations with a combined workforce of 827,083 employees, also showed that the median number of eligible employees per organisation was four.
The research also found:
- 72% of respondents believe that, to the best of their knowledge, some of their employees were eligible to make shared parental leave requests.
- 50% of respondents reported that only one eligible employee made a shared parental leave request, 20% of organisations had two requests and 25% had between three and eight requests.
- 56% of organisations offering enhanced shared parental pay have received a request for shared parental leave.
- 25% of organisations that do not enhance shared parental pay have had shared parental leave requests.
Parents on shared parental leave can share up to 37 weeks statutory shared parental pay between them. This is paid at a flat rate of £139.58 per week or 90% of the employee’s normal earnings if this is less.
Michael Carty, benchmarking editor at XpertHR, said: “Shared parental leave is a welcome addition to the range of family-friendly options available to working parents. But uptake in the first year has been low, with affordability concerns putting off many eligible parents. When deciding whether or not to offer enhanced shared parental pay, employers should consider the critical role it can play in making shared parental leave attractive to and useful for eligible employees.”
