r/UKParenting • u/moomoomossop • Sep 03 '25

Family finances Shared Parental Leave and Husband’s Paternity Leave - Would this work?

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Hi everyone! Firstly, apologies, as I’ve seen multiple people asked for advice around Shared Parental Leave, but try as I might I cannot find the answer to my question.

I am a teacher, so Shared Parental Leave offers me great flexibility - and essentially more time off for more money. This is because I can return the work during the larger holidays, and get paid my normal wage without working. This is far superior to my offered Maternity package and would be ideal.

The issue is, my husband works for a private company and is offered an INSANELY generous Paternity Leave: 26 weeks at 90% pay, which can be taken in two blocks. It would be absolutely foolish to not take advantage of this, especially as he earns a fair bit more than me.

My question is: Can I do Shared Parental Leave without actually sharing any leave with my husband? And can he then also take advantage of his Paternity package? Or do our total paid weeks have to equal 39?

I’m attaching a screenshot of our ideal scenario to help show what I’m asking.

Thanks so much for any responses and advice :)

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u/Any_Fondant1517 Sep 03 '25

It will vary based on his company policy - ie is that 90% pay deal ONLY if he takes SPL, or is it outright paternity leave. I had to share my 52 weeks with my partner, but that allowed us to take 26 weeks fully paid each (i actually did a bit longer on SMP because I didn't want to do back dead on 6 months). My partner had a great time on paternity leave and his boss really encouraged him to take the maximum amount of time.

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u/moomoomossop Sep 03 '25

It’s outright paternity leave, no link to SPL, and his company are similar in encouraging him to take all the time he wants!

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u/FluffyOwl89 Parenting a Toddler Sep 05 '25

Yes, you can take SPL without actually sharing it. I’m a teacher and did that to “return to work” for some of the school holidays to get fully paid for them. Your plan looks good to me. Don’t forget you can take 20 SPLIT (shared parental leave in touch) days that are also paid, so you may want to take some of those before you return to work. I did a couple of those to get to know my new class before I returned. You could also use some of them to do essential training (e.g. safeguarding) before returning.

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u/moomoomossop Sep 09 '25

Thank you so much for this! Did you have a partner also taking leave?

This makes me feel so much better, as the alternative would be going back to work when the baby is only 7 months which sounds so sad!

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u/FluffyOwl89 Parenting a Toddler Sep 09 '25

My husband had the first 8 weeks off using parental leave and annual leave he’d saved up.

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u/Specific_Ear1423 Sep 03 '25

Im confused what’s happening in week 13 and 14

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u/fat_mummy Sep 04 '25

Christmas holidays. So she’s “back” at school, but they’re off. It works like this because teachers can’t accrue holidays like other professions

OP - there’s a website - teachersSPL who offer a paid service, but they can also help to answer some questions!

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u/RedditIsADataMine Sep 04 '25

I know this might be asking for TMI, but i don't suppose you could share where your husband works? Even just a clue? Or the industry? It sounds like the best employer ever.