Pregnant employees are entitled to take 52 weeks’ maternity leave. Parents with babies due on or after 5 April 2015 are entitled to take shared parental leave. Shared parental leave enables mothers to commit to ending their maternity leave and pay at a future date, and to share the untaken balance of leave and pay as shared parental leave and pay with their partner.
Suggestions that the forthcoming Work and Families Bill will include a right to six months unpaid paternity leave have alarmed business leaders, who warn of an administrative nightmare