Preparing to go on shared parental leave
Handover and staying in touch
Meet with your manager to plan the handover of your work while you are on shared parental leave.
Agree how you’re going to stay in touch with your manager while you’re away. For example, you might want to use your work or personal email, phone or text.
Your manager must contact you about anything that might affect your role or team while you are on leave, such as reorganisation or redundancies.
You may find our guidance on taking long term leave useful when planning your leave.
Make a record of your outstanding holiday balance
While you are on leave you will continue to accrue both annual leave and bank holiday entitlement. My Oracle will only automatically transfer up to 1 week’s outstanding leave (pro rata for part time employees) from one holiday year to the next.
If your leave extends into the next holiday year, refer to Carrying over annual leave to make sure that your unused and accrued annual leave is carried over for when you return to work. Read our Holiday Policy on the annual leave allowance page for more details.
Access to IT
You may keep your IT equipment while on share parental leave to stay in touch and carry out work or go to online meetings during keeping in touch (KIT) days.
Turn on your out of office reply and include an alternative contact on your email account before your leave starts. Save any work files and folders to your team’s shared drive.
To keep your IT account active during your leave, raise an Extended Leave Notification request on the Assyst portal by selecting 'IT services', 'people services' and then 'log an extended leave notification'.
Log in to your laptop every couple of months to avoid being locked out. If you get locked out of your laptop, you will need to return to IT and request a new laptop.
Benefits and loans during leave
You have access to all your usual employee benefits when you’re on shared parental leave. All terms and conditions of employment stay the same during leave, except for terms relating to pay.
Bicycle loan or public transport season ticket loan
You can choose to vary or suspend the repayments that are taken directly from your shared parental pay.
You'll need to make alternative arrangements to pay back the amount you owe by the agreed repayment deadline.
To make changes to your loan repayments, contact People Support using the Assyst portal.
Lease cars during leave
You can keep your lease car during your leave as long as you continue to make the lease car payments. These payments will be deducted from any pay you receive during your shared parental leave.
The Car Provision Scheme (CPS) Administration team will contact you once your paid leave ends and provide invoices for you to pay them directly.
To avoid falling into arrears with your payments, it is advisable to contact the Car Provision Scheme (CPS) Administration team before starting leave to make arrangements.