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Grandparents set to share parental
leave and pay
The role that grandparents play in providing care for their grandchildren
is being officially recognised, as new proposals are set to allow working
grandparents to benefit from Shared Parental Leave and Pay.
Currently, the Shared Parental Leave
(SPL) rules only allow eligible mothers,
fathers, partners and those adopting to
take SPL and Shared Parental Pay
(ShPP) following
the arrival of
their baby.
Introduced in
April 2015,
SPL allows
working
mothers
to end their
Statutory
Maternity
Leave (SML)
and Statutory
Maternity Pay
(SMP) early.
They can
then share the
equivalent of the untaken leave and pay
with their partner instead, in the form of
SPL and ShPP. If introduced, the option
to share the available SPL and ShPP with
the child’s grandparents will allow some
parents to return to work more quickly.
It is also hoped that by making Shared
Parental Leave and Pay available to
grandparents, many older workers will
opt to remain in employment, rather
than leaving their jobs to help look after
their grandchildren.
However, ShPP and SPL are only
available where the child is under the age
of one, so those who care for toddlers
and school-age children will not benefit.
The Government aims to
introduce this change in 2018,
with consultation regarding the
details expected in 2016.
Under control? The new requirements for companies
Recent changes to company law have imposed new obligations on UK companies, as well as those holding interests in
UK companies.
By the expected date of 6 April 2016, all UK companies that are
not already subject to similar requirements must produce a register
of ‘persons with significant control’ – or PSC register – containing
details of the ultimate beneficial owners of the company.
This information must be filed with Companies House, where it will
be held in a public register, with the stated aim of improving the level
of transparency of UK companies. The expected date by which the
information must be provided to Companies House is 30 June 2016.
What is significant control?
The definition of a person with significant control
is any person to whom one or more of the following
points applies:
;
;
the individual either directly or indirectly holds more
than 25% of the shares in a company
;
;
the individual either directly or indirectly holds more
than 25% of the voting rights in a company
;
;
the individual has the right to appoint or remove a
majority of a company’s board of directors
;
;
the individual exercises, or has the right to exercise,
significant influence or control over the company
;
;
the individual exercises, or has the right to exercise,
significant influence or control over the activities of
a trust or firm which is not a legal entity, and which
itself meets one of the above conditions.
Companies with simple ownership structures should find the new
requirements relatively straightforward, although for those with
more complex arrangements, or where the issue of ownership is
unclear, the situation may be more challenging.
Identifying PSCs
Under the new rules, companies will be required to take reasonable
steps to identify whether a person or legal entity has significant
control and to include relevant details relating to them in the PSC
register. This means that companies will need to look beyond the
individuals who immediately own their shares, to identify those
individuals or entities which ultimately have significant control of
the company. Notice must be given by the company to any people
or entities that it believes to be registrable for the PSC, allowing one
month for the recipient to provide confirmation of their position.
Additionally, if an individual knows, or ought reasonably to know
that they should be registered as a significant controller, a proactive
disclosure obligation will apply to that individual, requiring them to
notify the company of their interest.
Failure to comply with the new rules could potentially result in financial
penalties and a criminal conviction.
Additional changes
Other changes to company law include amendments to the filing
requirements of companies with Companies House. The annual return
will be replaced by the new ‘check and confirm’ process, in which
companies will supply a confirmation statement stating whether the
information remains up-to-date. Where applicable, companies will be
obliged to notify Companies House of any changes at least every 12
months. The expected date of the new process is June 2016. These
obligations remain separate to the existing duty to notify the Registrar
of Companies of changes in information, on an ongoing basis.
Regulations are also expected to bring LLPs into the PSC regime
alongside companies.
This article is for general information only and you are
always advised to consult an expert for further advice.
SPL: At a glance
To qualify for this shared leave, employees
must satisfy the ‘continuity of employment’
test, whereby the parent taking the leave
must have been employed before the start
of the pregnancy.
Employers must generally be given at least
eight weeks’ notice before any period of
SPL begins.
Eligible parents are able to share up to 37
weeks’ pay and 50 weeks’ leave. The
amount available is determined by the
mother’s unused SML and SMP
entitlements.
ShPP is currently paid at £139.58 a week or
90% of average weekly earnings, whichever
is lower.
Employers can recover the majority of the
costs of ShPP on the same basis as Statutory
Maternity and Paternity Pay is recoverable.
Any SPL that is available to new parents
must be taken in the first year of the
child’s life.