The right to shared parental leave came into effect just over
two years ago. It was heralded as balancing the rights of parents
to share what until then had been a mother's right to a year
off to care for their child. We anticipated that take-up would be
low, and so far, that has turned out to be the case. However, as
the scheme becomes more established, and with the continuing push
for equality at work, shared parental leave – and an
increasing balanced commitment to family life between parents more
generally – will become more common.
However, many employers remain unprepared. This was highlighted
in a recent decision in the Employment Tribunal in which Capita was
held to have directly discriminated against a male employee who
says he was deterred from taking shared parental leave because he
was told he would only be entitled to statutory pay if he took more
than two weeks' leave (whereas employees on maternity leave
would be paid more).
