Shared Parental Leave Policy

These pages reproduce internal policy documents, which may change from time to time and which apply to UK employees only.

Where there is a difference between these pages and the policy documents on Confluence, the policy documents shall prevail.

Shared parental leave (SPL) gives you more flexibility in how you share the care in the first year after your child is born or is placed with you via adoption. iwoca understands the importance of allowing both parents to have a greater involvement in their child’s upbringing and offers eligible iwocans up to 52 weeks SPL in respect of the arrival of a child or children as a result of birth or adoption.

Summary of policy

All employees can take up to 52 weeks of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) in respect of the arrival of a child or children as a result of birth or adoption.

Any maternity and adoption leave taken by either an iwocan or their partner will be deducted from the 52 week period. SPL taken by an iwocan’s partner will be deducted from this 52 week period also.

iwocans will also be entitled to iwoca Enhanced Shared Parental Pay (Company ShPP) which includes:

6 weeks at 100% of usual pay, regardless of length of service

Plus an additional week, 100% of usual pay, for every full Quarter you are employed at iwoca for up to 5 years

Policy details

Eligible iwocans can opt to take SPL when they (or their partner) have ended (or given notice to end) maternity or adoption leave.

Assuming both parents are eligible, SPL leave can be split in a ‘continuous’ way. This would mean that one partner would take a period of leave (either as maternity or adoption leave or as SPL), and then the other partner would take the remainder of the leave as SPL. Alternatively, the leave can be ‘discontinuous’. This would mean that one partner takes some leave (either as maternity or adoption leave or as SPL), then the other takes SPL, and then the first partner takes some SPL, etc. It could also mean that the two partners take SPL at the same time.

In this policy, we will refer to the Qualifying Week. By this we mean:

In the case of the birth of a child, the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC)

In the case of the adoption of a child, the week the adoption agency notifies you that you have been matched with a child for adoption.

Eligibility

You may be entitled to SPL if:

An adoption agency has placed a child with you and/or your partner for adoption and you intend to share the main responsibility for the care of the child with your partner; or

You are the child’s mother and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the child’s father or partner; or

You are the child’s father and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the child’s mother or partner; or

You are the mother’s partner and share the main responsibility for the care of the child with the mother (where the child’s father does not share the main responsibility with the mother).

In addition, the following conditions must also be met:

You must have at least 26 weeks continuous service with iwoca by the end of the Qualifying Week and still be employed by us in the week before the leave is to be taken;

The other parent must have worked (in an employed or self-employed capacity in at least 26 or the 66 weeks before the EWC and had average weekly earnings above the maternity allowance threshold (currently £30) during 13 of those weeks (add up the highest paying weeks, they do not need to be in a row); and

You and the other parent must give the necessary notices and declarations as set out in this policy, including the notice to end maternity or adoption leave, statutory maternity pay (SMP) or statutory adoption pay (SAP) or maternity allowance periods.

If you are entitled to statutory paternity leave, you should consider taking these 2 weeks of statutory paternity leave before taking SPL. Once you start SPL, you will lose any untaken paternity leave entitlement (including statutory paternity leave and any additional iwoca enhanced paternity leave).

SPL can only be taken after the two weeks of compulsory maternity or adoption leave has been taken by one of the parents.

Notification to take SPL

You are required to give iwoca at least 8 weeks’ written notice that you intend to take SPL. As long as there is some of the 52 weeks of Total Leave remaining, you can opt to take SPL at any time within the first year of the child’s arrival. Details on what needs to be included in this notice can be found on iwoca’s internal employee portal.

Entitlement to Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP)

You may be able to claim Statutory Shared Parental Pay (SShPP) of up to 39 weeks (less any weeks of SMP, SAP or maternity allowance that has already been paid or due to be paid to either partner)

In order to claim SShPP, you must have at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment with us at the end of the Qualifying Week and your average earning must not be less than the lower earning limit set by the government each tax year.

SShP will be paid at the rate set by the government each tax year.

Entitlement to iwoca Enhanced Shared Parental Pay (Company ShPP)

If you are entitled to SShPP (see above), you will also be entitled to Company ShPP for the weeks in which you are in receipt of SShPP. Any Company ShPP is inclusive of the SShPP which would be payable during that same period of SPL

Any entitlement to Company ShPP will be calculated as set out below. However, for the avoidance of doubt, any company enhanced maternity pay, company enhanced adoption pay and/or company enhanced paternity pay received by the employee in respect of that particular child will be deducted from any Company ShPP entitlement.

All iwocans, irrespective of length of service with iwoca, are entitled to Company ShPP (paid at full basic salary) for the first 6 (six) weeks of any SPL taken (subject to the deductions set out above).

Employees are also entitled to a further week of Company ShPP (paid at full basic salary) for every full quarter that you have been continuously employed at iwoca, up to a maximum of 5 years continuous service.

Once the Company ShPP has been exhausted, you will be entitled to SShPP for the remainder of any further SPL taken

Company ShPP is only payable for periods during which you are employed by iwoca. In the event that your employment terminates during any period of SPL, you will not be entitled to Company ShPP once your employment has terminated.

We have set out below some examples of how the Company ShPP would work for our employees.

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