Revocation of curtailment notice for SPL

In certain circumstances, an employee can revoke a maternity leave or adoption leave curtailment notice that they’ve submitted to enable them to take shared parental leave.

Curtailment notice

A mother or adopter can end their maternity or adoption leave early by giving you eight weeks’ notice of their planned early return and then coming back to work. Once they’re back, they can then opt in to the shared parental leave (SPL) scheme. Alternatively, they can opt into the SPL scheme by providing you with our written Maternity Leave or Adoption Leave Curtailment Notice bringing forward the date on which their maternity or adoption leave and pay ends. That notice must state the date on which the employee wants their maternity or adoption leave to end (the leave curtailment date) and that date must be:

• at least one day after the end of the two-week compulsory maternity leave period, or at least two weeks after the first day of the ordinary adoption leave period;
• at least eight weeks after the date on which the curtailment notice is submitted to you; and
• at least one week before the last day of the additional maternity or adoption leave period.

Notice revocation

Assuming the mother or adopter submitted their curtailment notice in accordance with the statutory requirements, they can only change their mind and revoke that curtailment notice in limited circumstances. A revocation notice must be in writing, must be given to you before the leave curtailment date and must state that the mother or adopter revokes their curtailment notice. The mother or adopter can revoke their curtailment notice only if:

• it’s discovered that neither they nor their partner are entitled to SPL or statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) and they revoke their curtailment notice within eight weeks of the date on which it was submitted to you;
• in birth cases, the mother served the curtailment notice before the birth of their child and they revoke it within six weeks of the date of the child’s birth; or
• their partner dies, in which case the curtailment notice must be revoked within a reasonable time of the date of their partner’s death and the revocation notice must state the date of that death.

Our Revocation of Curtailment Notice for SPL is intended for use by the employee here. It confirms that they wish to revoke their curtailment notice and includes guidance notes setting out the rules about when it can be used so that there are no misunderstandings.