Top 10 HR questions in November 2014: Shared parental leave and holiday pay

Predictably, the most popular questions in November related to the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014, which came into force on 1 December 2014. The first parents will begin to take shared parental leave next year, for babies due on or after 5 April 2015.

XpertHR has more than 30 FAQs on shared parental leave and pay to help employers prepare for the new regime, and more are being added to the site all the time. The top 10 most popular FAQs on XpertHR in November features some of the newly published FAQs, including questions on eligibility for statutory shared parental pay and entitlement in an adoption situation.

The decision in Bear Scotland Ltd v Fulton, on overtime and the calculation of holiday pay, has also been raising questions among employers, while how to calculate a week’s pay in relation to holiday pay entitlement was another popular FAQs last month.

1. How will shared parental leave operate?

2. Can a mother’s partner begin a period of shared parental leave while the mother is still on maternity leave?

3. If an employer pays enhanced maternity pay, must it also enhance pay to employees on shared parental leave?

4. Can an employee use periods of shared parental leave to reduce his or her hours over a period, for example by working for two days a week and taking shared parental leave for three days a week?

5. How should an employer compute a week’s pay in relation to an employee’s holiday pay entitlement?

6. Which employees are entitled to statutory shared parental pay?

7. What is “discontinuous leave” under the shared parental leave regime?

8. When will an employee who is adopting a child be eligible for shared parental leave?

9. Who has to be informed and consulted on a TUPE transfer?

10. In what circumstances does an employee not need minimum qualifying service to claim unfair dismissal?