It's a good idea for the employer and employee to keep in contact when the employee is on shared parental leave.
The employer still has legal obligations to the employee while they're off. They should let the employee know of any changes or job opportunities.
They should both agree before the employee goes on leave how and when they'll stay in touch.
Shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days
Each employee can use up to 20 shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days. They should agree with their employer how and when to use them.
SPLIT days are in addition to the 10 keeping in touch (KIT) days available to employees during maternity or adoption leave. They work in a similar way.
SPLIT days can be useful for the employee to:
- keep up to date with work
- go to a work-related activity or training session
- work part of a week to help the team
- return from leave in a gradual way, for example taking 2 SPLIT days and working 3 days a week to start with
It's up to the employer and employee to agree:
- whether to use SPLIT days
- how many of the 20 days to use
- how much the employee will get paid for them
If an employee works part of a day, it still counts as a full SPLIT day.
Pay for SPLIT days
Pay for SPLIT days should be agreed in advance. The easiest option is for someone to get their usual pay for the day.
Pay for SPLIT days still needs to meet the minimum wage.
If an employment contract ends
If a fixed-term contract was due to end anyway, the employer does not have to renew it. But the employer must not use shared parental leave as a reason for not continuing a contract.
When a contract ends, the parent's shared parental leave entitlement ends. This is even if they start working for another employer, because they'll no longer be eligible. The other parent keeps their entitlement, if they had it.
If the contract ends while the employee is on shared parental leave, they could still be entitled to shared parental pay.
Redundancy
There is extra protection for employees who take shared parental leave.
Find out about redundancy protection for pregnancy and new parents
Returning to work
After shared parental leave, the same rights and processes apply as returning to work after maternity leave.
From 6 April 2026, an employee can take paternity leave after shared parental leave, before they return to work.