Shared Parental Leave Planner

Your leave plan

How this planner works

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) come out of the mother’s (or main adopter’s) maternity or adoption entitlement. Whatever leave and pay she does not use can be shared. The planner follows the GOV.UK rules step by step:

1. Leave left to share = 52 weeks − weeks of maternity or adoption leave used. Statutory Maternity Leave is 52 weeks, and the first 2 weeks after the birth (4 if the mother works in a factory) must be taken, so at most 50 weeks can be shared. The planner will not accept fewer than 2 weeks used.
2. Pay left to share = 39 weeks − weeks of maternity or adoption pay used. Statutory pay lasts 39 weeks, so at most 37 weeks of ShPP can be shared.
3. Pay in your plan = paid weeks wanted × £194.32. £194.32 a week is the 2026/27 ShPP rate. It is capped at the pay weeks left and at the leave weeks you plan.
4. Earliest SPL start = the birth or placement date plus the weeks of maternity or adoption leave used. That is the earliest date for the mother (or main adopter), whose maternity or adoption leave must end first. GOV.UK says the partner can start SPL earlier, while she is still on leave, once she has given binding notice to end it (GOV.UK, when you can start).
5. Notice date = 8 weeks before that start, because each parent must give their employer at least 8 weeks’ notice before a block of leave begins.
6. Plan status compares the weeks you plan with the weeks left and says if either cap is exceeded.

What it leaves out: ShPP is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is lower, and the planner assumes both parents earn enough to get the full rate. It does not check eligibility, employer enhancements, or how leave is split into blocks (up to 3 can be booked; more only if the employer agrees). Leave and pay must be used in the first year after the birth or placement.

Worked example: the default figures

Take a baby due on 10 September 2026, the planner’s default date. The mother takes 12 weeks of maternity leave and 12 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay, then ends both so the couple can share the rest. Parent A plans 14 weeks of SPL and Parent B 12 weeks, and each wants 8 of those weeks paid.

That leaves 14 weeks of leave and 11 weeks of ShPP unused, which the couple could still book. If Parent B’s average weekly earnings were £200, 90% of that is £180, below £194.32, so B’s 8 paid weeks would be worth £1,440 rather than £1,555 and the real total would be about £2,995.

To qualify for ShPP, GOV.UK says each parent claiming must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the due date and earn on average at least £129 a week, and the other parent must pass a work and earnings test (at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the due week, and £390 in total across 13 of those weeks).

Sources, checked 3 October 2026: GOV.UK, what you’ll get; GOV.UK, eligibility for birth parents; GOV.UK, booking blocks of leave; GOV.UK, maternity leave; HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (ShPP £194.32; Lower Earnings Limit £129 a week).