In Northern Ireland, eligible parents may share some of the first year's maternity or adoption leave as Shared Parental Leave (SPL). Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) has its own eligibility conditions. The mother or adopter must end, or give binding notice to end, the relevant maternity/adoption leave or pay (or Maternity Allowance) before a shared balance is available. The NI process includes written entitlement information for the employer and at least eight weeks' notice for a leave period.
For the adoption leave match notice, Statutory Adoption Pay tests and return date before considering SPL, see the Northern Ireland Adoption Leave and Pay guide.
Use the Northern Ireland Shared Parental Leave Planner to schedule up to three birth-related blocks, the usual eight-week curtailment and employer-notice reminders, and the separate leave/pay balances already confirmed by the employer. It does not decide either parent's eligibility or ShPP amount.
Check leave and pay separately
Create the shared balance first
Use written notices and dates
Northern Ireland has its own route
This guide follows nidirect's Northern Ireland process. It is not the GB eligibility checklist. Compare it with the separate Great Britain Shared Parental Leave and Pay guide: the NI guidance includes a partner work-and-earnings test of 26 weeks' work and at least £30 a week on average in 13 of the 66 weeks before the due or matching week. Rules and thresholds can change, so use the official route for the relevant parent and event.
SPL and ShPP are not extra leave or pay on top of the maternity/adoption entitlement. They use the portion remaining after maternity/adoption leave or pay is ended early. The available number of weeks therefore depends on what has already been taken and whether each parent meets the relevant conditions.
Who may qualify
For a birth, the parent taking SPL must share care from birth with their spouse/civil partner, the child's other parent, or a partner who lives with them and the child. They generally need 26 weeks' continuous employment by the end of the 15th week before the due week and must remain employed by the same employer while taking SPL. Their partner must have worked for at least 26 weeks in the 66-week period before the due week (the weeks need not be consecutive) and earned at least £30 a week on average in 13 of those weeks. The partner may be employed, self-employed or an agency worker for that partner test.
For ShPP after a birth, nidirect says the person taking the pay must average at least £129 a week in the eight weeks up to the end of the 15th week before the due week, and either that person must qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay or their partner must qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance. Meeting a leave test does not itself establish pay entitlement.
Adoption has a separate matching-date test. One parent must qualify for statutory adoption leave or pay; the employee taking SPL generally needs 26 weeks' continuous service by the end of the matching week and must stay with the same employer while on leave. The partner's 26-in-66-weeks and £30-average test is measured up to the end of the matching week. For ShPP, the employee's average weekly earnings test is measured over the eight weeks up to and including the matching week, and either parent must qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay.
Nidirect also describes a parental-order-parent route for qualifying surrogacy arrangements. It has additional parental-order conditions alongside the service and partner tests. Check that specific official branch rather than applying the birth-parent or adopter checklist by assumption.
Sometimes only one parent qualifies for SPL or ShPP. Nidirect says an eligible employee may still use SPL in separate blocks even if their partner cannot share the leave; that does not create a second parent's entitlement.
How the leave and pay balance is created
The mother or adopter can either return to work or give binding notice of at least eight weeks stating when maternity/adoption leave or pay will end. Where the mother receives Maternity Allowance, notice is given to the Social Security Agency. A binding curtailment notice normally cannot be changed. The mother must take at least two weeks of maternity leave/pay after birth (four weeks for a factory worker); an adopter must take at least two weeks of adoption leave/pay. The partner may begin SPL/ShPP while the mother or adopter is still on their original leave if the required binding notice has been given and the partner has satisfied the notice rules.
SPL and ShPP can start only once the child is born or adopted. They must be used between birth and the child's first birthday, or within one year of adoption placement. Unused weeks do not carry beyond that first-year window. The statutory pay rate shown by nidirect for 2026/27 is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for the eligible remaining paid weeks. ShPP is paid through the employer; it is not a separate DWP benefit claim. Check payroll for tax, deductions and any enhanced contractual scheme.
Tell the employer and book leave
Give the employer written notice of SPL/ShPP entitlement. Include the partner's name; the maternity/adoption leave and pay dates; the total leave/pay available; how much each parent plans to take; and confirmation that you share childcare responsibility. The partner must sign a declaration with their name, address and National Insurance number, confirm they meet the relevant conditions, and agree to the proposed SPL/ShPP. The employer may ask within 14 days for a birth certificate and the partner's employer name and address; provide requested information within 14 days.
Give at least eight weeks' notice before each leave period. If a baby is born more than eight weeks early, the notice period can be shorter. You may book up to three separate blocks without needing the partner to take leave; an employer may agree to more. Both parents may take eligible SPL at the same time or at different times. The right to request separate blocks does not guarantee an alternating work/leave pattern: splitting a block into shorter periods requires the employer's agreement.
Each parent and employer can agree up to 20 SPLIT days (Shared Parental Leave in Touch days) during SPL. These are optional, require both sides' agreement and are separate from the 10 KIT days available during maternity or adoption leave.
A Northern Ireland SPL planning sequence
- 1Confirm the job is governed by Northern Ireland rules and identify the birth, adoption or parental-order route.
- 2Check leave eligibility and ShPP eligibility separately for each parent, including the relevant due-week or matching-week work and earnings periods.
- 3Agree how much maternity/adoption leave and pay or Maternity Allowance will be used; the mother or adopter must return to work or give the binding curtailment notice.
- 4Send the employer the written entitlement notice and signed partner declaration, then provide any requested birth or employer details within 14 days.
- 5Give at least eight weeks’ notice for each requested leave period, track the remaining weeks, and make sure all leave/pay falls within the first-year window.
Changing plans, returning to work and related rights
You may be able to cancel a decision to end maternity/adoption leave early if the planned end date has not passed and you have not returned to work, and one of nidirect's listed exceptions applies: you learn during the eight-week notice period that neither parent qualifies; your partner dies; or, in the specified case, the mother gives notice less than six weeks after birth despite having given notice before birth. Ask the employer or Social Security Agency which notice must be withdrawn; do not assume a binding notice can be changed for any reason.
For a period of SPL (or a combination of the listed statutory family leaves) of 26 weeks or less, nidirect describes a right to return to the same job and terms. After more than 26 weeks, the same job generally remains the return right unless it is not reasonably practicable; then the employer must offer a suitable job on no less favourable terms. The exact result depends on the combined leave and circumstances.
If your employer disputes the leave entitlement or refuses a requested pattern, ask for the decision in writing, follow the workplace grievance process and contact the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) about early conciliation before lodging a case with the Northern Ireland Industrial Tribunal. Nidirect says most tribunal claims must be made within three months of the incident, although the limit can vary and early conciliation affects the process; check the current deadline promptly. If the issue is ShPP entitlement or amount, first try to resolve it with the employer and keep its written decision and calculation. HMRC's Statutory Payment Dispute Team says to contact it only if the issue cannot be resolved with the employer. These are separate routes: use the NI employment route for the leave dispute and the HMRC statutory-pay route for a ShPP decision or amount dispute.