As an employer, it’s important to support employees during their Shared Parental Leave (SPL) while balancing business needs. One useful provision you should know about is Shared Parental Leave In Touch (SPLIT) days a flexible way for employees to keep in touch with work during their SPL without ending their leave or pay.
What are SPLIT days?
SPLIT days allow employees that are taking Shared Parental Leave to work up to 20 days without ending their leave or losing their Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP). These days are separate from the 10 Keeping In Touch (KIT) days available during maternity or adoption leave.
If both parents take SPL, each can use up to 20 SPLIT days during their leave period. If only one parent is on SPL, that parent may use up to 20 SPLIT days.
What work can be done on SPLIT days?
A SPLIT day can include any activity normally covered by the employee’s contract, such as:
Attending training sessions or conferences
Participating in meetings
Working on projects or tasks
Any other work-related activity to keep in touch with the workplace
Even working for part of a day or a few hours counts as one SPLIT day.
Employees and employers should agree in advance what work will be done during SPLIT days and discuss payment terms and location (e.g., office or remote work).
When can SPLIT days be worked?
SPLIT days can be taken at any point during Shared Parental Leave, including during paid and unpaid leave periods. However, employees cannot work during the two weeks of compulsory maternity leave immediately following birth (or four weeks for factory workers).
SPLIT days do not extend the employee’s leave period and don’t need to be taken consecutively.
Managing SPLIT days in PayFit
In PayFit, SPLIT days can be easily tracked and managed by adding a dedicated pay item under the employee record. Simply navigate to Employee record > Pay items, and add the SPLIT day pay item here. This helps keep payroll accurate and ensures SPLIT days are correctly accounted for during shared parental leave.
IMPORTANT: You must keep track of any SPLIT days to ensure the employee does not exceed the maximum allowed.
FAQs
Do employees have to work SPLIT days?
No. SPLIT days are optional and require mutual agreement between employer and employee. Employees cannot be forced to work SPLIT days.
How are SPLIT days paid?
The law does not specify exact pay for SPLIT days, but the expectation is that employees receive their normal hourly rate. They must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage for any hours worked, excluding the statutory pay element (ShPP).
If working a SPLIT day overlaps with the statutory pay period, employees continue to receive their statutory payments, but additional pay for SPLIT days must be agreed beforehand. This extra pay can be offset against statutory pay, so employees may not always receive both in full.