October 2026

Shared parental leave 2026: what changes for parents

Updated 23 October 2026

From 6 April 2026, shared parental leave rules in Great Britain are being rewritten, with a reserved portion for each parent, a longer notice window for changing SPL dates, and the right to end statutory maternity or adoption leave early to share leave with a partner. The new regime also tightens the deadline for employers to respond to a shared parental leave notice and gives fathers and the second parent a standalone right to unpaid neonatal care leave. If you are expecting a child on or after that date, or have a child placed for adoption on or after that date, the new rules apply. Earlier parents are still on the old regime.

What is changing for shared parental leave in 2026

The Employment Rights (Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 implement the bulk of the 2025 private member's bill on shared parental leave. The headline change is a reserved portion: six weeks of shared parental leave that can only be taken by the parent who is not on maternity or adoption leave, and is lost if not used. The rest of the 50 weeks of leave that can be shared remains available to either parent as before.

The reserved six weeks sits inside the existing shared parental leave pot, rather than on top of it. If you do not take the reserved portion, those weeks are not added to your partner's entitlement, and they cannot be transferred. The stated policy aim is to push back against the pattern of mothers taking the overwhelming majority of leave and fathers taking only a token week or two.

The second material change is to notice. Until 5 April 2026, an employee who wanted to vary the dates of a period of shared parental leave they had already booked had to give at least eight weeks' notice of the variation, and could only do it twice. From 6 April 2026, the minimum notice period for variations is reduced to four weeks, and the cap on the number of variations is removed, provided each variation is for a continuous block of at least four weeks.

Continuous blocks of less than four weeks still need the employer's agreement, as under the old rules. The regulations do not change the position that the default form of shared parental leave is discontinuous, with parents needing to ask to take it in one continuous block if that is what they want.

Third, the rules on ending statutory maternity leave or adoption leave to take shared parental leave are being relaxed. From 6 April 2026, the birth parent or the adopter can end their statutory maternity or adoption leave at any point from two weeks after the birth or placement, in order to take shared parental leave, without having to return to work first. The old rule required a return to work in order to trigger the right to share leave.

Who is in scope for the new shared parental leave rules

The new rules apply to employees whose child is expected to be born on or after 6 April 2026, or who are notified of having been matched with a child for adoption on or after that date. They also apply to employees who are at the start of their qualifying period on or after 6 April 2026, including the 26 weeks of continuous service with the same employer that is required to take shared parental leave.

To take shared parental leave in 2026, an employee must have at least 26 weeks of continuous service with the same employer by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, or by the date the child is matched for adoption. The partner must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before the expected week of childbirth, and have earned at least £30 a week on average in 13 of those 66 weeks.

The reserved six weeks sits with the parent who is not on maternity or adoption leave. In a heterosexual couple, that is typically the father. In a same-sex couple, it is the parent who is not the birth parent or the primary adopter. In a family where both parents are the birth parents, for example through surrogacy, the reserved portion can be split between them by agreement, but only one parent can use each week of it.

Self-employed parents, workers on zero-hours contracts and agency workers continue to be excluded from shared parental leave, because the right is built on employee status and continuous service. A self-employed partner can still satisfy the economic condition for the employee parent to take shared parental leave, but cannot themselves take it.

Agency workers who are deemed employees of the end-user hirer for the purposes of the agency workers regulations can use shared parental leave from their end-user engagement, provided the qualifying service test is met.

How shared parental leave pay works in 2026

Shared parental leave pay, the statutory version, is set at the same rate as statutory maternity pay: £187.18 a week in 2026/27, or 90 per cent of average weekly earnings if that is lower. The pot of 39 weeks of statutory shared parental pay sits inside the 52-week statutory maternity pay entitlement. The first six weeks of statutory maternity pay are the higher-rate 90 per cent of earnings band, and are not shareable.

The reserved six weeks of shared parental leave is paid at the same statutory shared parental pay rate as the rest of the pot, unless the employer offers enhanced shared parental pay in line with its enhanced maternity pay scheme, in which case the same enhancement applies to the reserved weeks for the eligible parent.

Employers who offer occupational maternity pay above the statutory minimum are not legally required to mirror that enhancement for shared parental leave. A long-running campaign to make enhanced pay equal for shared parental leave is still under discussion in 2026, with the Government indicating it will consult on a right to equal pay for equal periods of family leave later this year.

Shared parental leave and pay are not the same thing. An employee can take unpaid shared parental leave while on reduced pay, and an employer can pay statutory shared parental pay without the employee taking the corresponding weeks of leave. The usual pattern is to take both together, but the regulations do not require it.

Notice and the new employer response deadline

To take shared parental leave, the employee must give their employer a valid shared parental leave notice. The notice must include the dates of the maternity or adoption leave that is being ended early, the shared parental leave dates the employee wants to take, the partner's personal details and consent, and a declaration of the partner's eligibility.

Under the new 2026 rules, the employer has 14 calendar days to respond, reduced from 28 days under the old regime. The employer can ask for one set of further information, and the employee has 14 days to provide it. If the employer does not respond within the deadline, the shared parental leave notice is treated as accepted as written.

The employee can withdraw a shared parental leave notice up to eight weeks after giving it, or up to the start of the first period of leave, whichever is earlier. The right to withdraw is unchanged, but the deadline for withdrawal is now measured in the same way as the notice deadlines, which simplifies the calculations.

From 6 April 2026, the employee can give up to three variations to the shared parental leave notice, with four weeks' notice for each, and the variation is treated as accepted unless the employer objects in writing within seven days. This is a significant loosening of the old eight-week, two-variation rule, and is intended to allow parents to react to medical advice, placement disruption and other real-world changes.

What to do if your employer refuses or ignores a shared parental leave request

The first step is to put your request in writing, dated, and keep a copy. If your employer responds with a refusal or a request for further information, ask for the refusal in writing, with reasons. If the request is for a non-qualifying employee, or for leave outside the statutory framework, the employer can refuse in writing within 14 days.

If the refusal is on a non-statutory basis, or the employer does not respond at all, raise a formal grievance. You can use the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, which is the relevant code for this kind of dispute. A successful grievance is usually the first step in a tribunal claim, because the tribunal can reduce compensation by up to 25 per cent for failure to follow the code.

For claims related to shared parental leave, including refusal to allow an employee to take it or a failure to pay statutory shared parental pay, the usual route is a breach of contract claim in the employment tribunal, relying on the right as a contractual entitlement. The time limit is three months from the date of the act complained of, with the usual ACAS early conciliation extension.

What to do in the meantime

If you are expecting a child or matched for adoption on or after 6 April 2026, start planning now. The reserved six-week block needs at least eight weeks' notice of the dates you want to take, so do not leave it until after the birth. Talk to your partner about who is taking the reserved weeks, and in what pattern. Make sure your employer has a written shared parental leave policy in 2026; if it does not, ask for one in writing.

Check your continuous service against the 26-week qualifying test at the 15th week before the due date, and ask your partner to check their 26-weeks-in-66-weeks record. If you are short, the only route in 2026 is to wait for the next child, because the Government has not yet changed the qualifying service condition.

Keep all correspondence in writing, by email, and dated. If you have already given a shared parental leave notice under the old rules, the new rules apply only to variations and to ending statutory maternity leave early, so check whether it is worth withdrawing and resubmitting under the 2026 regime. ACAS has a free helpline on 0300 123 1100 for individual questions on family leave.