Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) lets parents share the maternity or adoption pay the mother or adopter does not use. She ends her maternity pay early by binding notice, and the untaken weeks, up to 37 weeks of pay and 50 weeks of leave, can be taken by either eligible parent in up to three booked blocks, each with at least 8 weeks’ notice. For 2026 to 2027 ShPP is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, and employers recover it like maternity pay.

How does curtailing maternity pay create Shared Parental Pay?

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and ShPP only exist once the mother or adopter cuts short her own entitlement. The mother must take at least 2 weeks of maternity leave after the birth (4 weeks in a factory), and an adopter must take at least 2 weeks of adoption leave. She then either returns to work, which ends maternity leave, or gives her employer binding notice of the date her leave and pay will end. If she is getting Maternity Allowance rather than SMP, she tells Jobcentre Plus instead. She cannot restart maternity pay once it has ended.

The weeks she has not used become the shared pot. HMRC’s employer guide gives the example of a mother who ends maternity leave and pay after 12 weeks, leaving 40 weeks of SPL and 27 weeks of ShPP. The technical guide adds an important rule: the shared entitlement is fixed by the curtailment date in her notice, so if she returns to work earlier than that date it does not create extra weeks.

Her partner does not have to wait. Once the mother has given binding notice, the partner can start SPL while she is still on maternity leave, provided they have given their own employer at least 8 weeks’ notice. Leave and pay must be taken before the child’s first birthday or within a year of placement, and SPL and ShPP only apply in England, Scotland and Wales.

Who is eligible?

The rules are in the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 and the Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations 2014. Each parent is tested separately, and the employee claiming must:

  • share responsibility for the child with a spouse, civil partner, joint adopter, the child’s other parent or a partner they live with;
  • have been continuously employed by you for at least 26 weeks up to any day of the qualifying week (the 15th week before the due week) or the adoption matching week, and still be employed by you;
  • for pay, have average weekly earnings of at least the lower earnings limit, which is £129 a week for 2026 to 2027, in the 8 week relevant period; and
  • give the correct notices and declarations.

The other parent must pass an employment and earnings test: working for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the due week and earning at least £390 in total in any 13 of those weeks. They can be self employed. SPL is only for employees, but GOV.UK says a worker who is eligible for SMP or SPP can still get ShPP. You do not have to check the partner’s declaration, although you may.

What notices must the employee give?

There are three types of notice, and the technical guide sets out how they interact.

  1. Curtailment notice from the mother or adopter to her own employer, ending maternity or adoption leave and pay on a set date. It is binding except in limited cases: if it turns out within the 8 week notice period that neither parent is eligible, if the partner dies, or if it was given before the birth and is withdrawn within 6 weeks of the birth.
  2. Notice of entitlement and intention from each parent taking leave, at least 8 weeks before their first period of SPL or ShPP. It includes a declaration from the other parent and a non binding indication of the leave pattern. Within 14 days you can ask for a copy of the birth certificate and the name and address of the partner’s employer, and the employee has 14 days to provide them.
  3. Booking notices for each period of leave, again at least 8 weeks ahead. An employee has a statutory right to book up to 3 separate blocks, though you can allow more.

You cannot refuse a booking for a single continuous block. A booking for a discontinuous pattern starts a 2 week discussion period; if you refuse it and nothing else is agreed, the employee can take the same number of weeks as one continuous block starting at least 8 weeks after the original notice, and has 5 days after the discussion period to choose the start date. They can withdraw a discontinuous booking up to the 15th day. Later changes need a variation notice, which also counts towards the cap of 3.

How is ShPP calculated and paid through payroll?

Regulation 40 of the Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations 2014 sets the weekly rate as the smaller of £194.32 and 90% of normal weekly earnings. Daily amounts are one seventh of the weekly rate, rounded up to the nearest penny. Unlike Statutory Maternity Pay, there is no earnings related first 6 weeks: GOV.UK’s example is a mother earning £300 a week who gets £270 a week SMP for 6 weeks and then £194.32, and who stays on £194.32 once she moves onto ShPP. If a mother curtails within the first 6 weeks, the unused higher rate weeks are lost.

ShPP is paid through payroll in the same way as SMP and Statutory Paternity Pay. Each parent can work up to 20 shared parental leave in touch (SPLiT) days per employer without ending their leave or pay, on top of the 10 keeping in touch days available during maternity or adoption leave. Pay for SPLiT days is agreed between you but must respect the National Minimum Wage.

Illustration only. A mother starts maternity leave 4 weeks before the birth and gives notice to end leave and pay 12 weeks after the birth, so 16 weeks are used. That leaves 36 weeks of SPL and 23 weeks of ShPP, matching an example in the technical guide. Her husband earns £600 a week and books 10 weeks of ShPP: 90% of £600 is £540, so he gets the lower figure of £194.32 a week, £1,943.20 in total. His employer, paying above £45,000 of Class 1 National Insurance, recovers 92%, which is £1,787.74.

How do employers recover ShPP and what records are needed?

For 2026 to 2027 employers reclaim 92% of ShPP, or 109% if they qualify for Small Employers’ Relief because their total Class 1 National Insurance in the relevant tax year was £45,000 or less. Recovery is claimed on the Employer Payment Summary, and advance funding is available if you cannot afford the payments. Recovery covers only the statutory amount, not any enhanced shared parental pay.

Keep records for at least 3 years from the end of the tax year: the evidence of eligibility, the date ShPP began, payments and dates, amounts reclaimed, and any weeks not paid with the reason. If you refuse ShPP you must tell the employee why; you do not have to give a reason for refusing SPL.

What mistakes do employers make?

  • Paying ShPP at 90% of earnings for the first 6 weeks, as if it were SMP.
  • Letting the mother restart maternity pay after binding notice, outside the limited revocation cases.
  • Recalculating the shared weeks when the mother returns before her curtailment date.
  • Refusing a properly notified continuous block, or treating a discontinuous request as automatically agreed when you have not responded.
  • Forgetting that leave and pay must end by the child’s first birthday.
  • Counting withdrawn bookings towards the cap of 3; withdrawn notices do not count, but variations do.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.