WIREDGOV

Shared Parental Leave law became effective recently (5 April 2015).

Parents in work can now share responsibility for looking after their newborn or newly adopted child as Shared Parental Leave law became effective recently (5 April 2015).

Eligible couples whose child is due after Sunday 5 April 2015 can now share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay in the first year of their child’s life. Couples who adopt a child can share the same benefits as parents to the first year of the child’s adoption.

Parents can take the time off at the same time as each other or separately.

An estimated 285,000 couples a year will be able to take advantage of this change in the law.

Those who want to find out more can visit ‘Shared Parental Leave’

Notes to editors:

Other regulations that came into effect on Monday 6 April 2015, common commencement date, were:

• Intellectual Property Office appeals: 2 new routes of appeal from decisions of the Intellectual Property Office on registered and unregistered designs. This mirrors the choices currently available for trademarks. People will have the option of either appealing to the High Court, which offers a further route of appeal, or to an Appointed Person, for a cheaper and quicker decision
• Accounting Directive Chapters 1 to 9: the directive will harmonise the UK’s accounting regulations with EU legislation, and reduce obligations on some medium-sized companies
• the deregulation of the Weights and Measure (Knitting Yarns) Order 1988: this will scrap red tape which fixes the quantities that non pre-packed knitting yarn could be sold in. This gives manufacturers and retailers of knitting yarn freedom to sell any size and allows for more choice of sizes for consumers