Appeal court to scrutinise legality of enhanced shared parental pay

The Employment Appeal Tribunal will hear the appeal in Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd tomorrow, Wednesday 20th December, on the issue of whether employers who offer enhanced maternity pay must also offer enhanced shared parental pay. The joined appeal of Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police will take place in January 2018.

This will be the first time an appellant court has considered the legality of enhanced shared parental pay.

This case is of importance to both male and female employees in the UK. Shared parental leave enables families to make choices about who cares the child during the first year of life and encouraging fathers to take a more active and engaged role in bringing up their children later in life. Relieving the childcare burden on female employees contributes to a fairer workplace.

However, very low numbers of eligible fathers have taken shared parental leave. Research carried out by Working Families found that 1/3 of fathers said they would not take up their right to shared parental leave because it was unaffordable. Working Families, represented by Chris Milsom, have intervened in both Ali and Hextall.

For a reminder of the first instance decisions of Ali and Hextall, article by Rachel Crasnow QC and Siân McKinley.