Do low rates of statutory pay for shared parental leave discriminate against the non-birthing partner? Shane Crawford analyses the arguments
- The Court of Appeal has made clear that the non-birthing partner of a mother who wishes to take shared parental leave is not being discriminated against because of his sex directly or indirectly.
The Court of Appeal has provided some clear guidance about the issue of appropriate comparator in the context of lower rates of pay for shared parental leave when compared to contractual maternity leave pay (Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd (Working Families intervening); Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police v Hextall (Working Families intervening); Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police (Working Families intervening)
[2019] EWCA Civ 900, [2019] All ER (D) 18 (Jun)).
The issue raised by non-birthing partners when seeking shared parental leave is that employers regularly pay only the statutory rate of pay, not the contractual rate of pay. The argument is that had the non-birthing partner taken maternity leave he or she would have received contractual maternity leave, which in most cases is significantly
