How do I apply for shared parental leave with 8 weeks' notice?

What is the difference between entitlement notice and booking notice?

GOV.UK says you must follow the rules for starting Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) and give the employer at least 8 weeks' written notice of your leave dates. Acas names the two written steps parents mix up.

You can attach the first booking to the entitlement notice. You do not have to. From 6 April 2026, Acas notes that paternity leave can be taken after shared parental leave.

How do I give 8 weeks' written notice?

Count 8 weeks back from the first day of the block you want. Send email or letter; keep a copy. Acas parent templates cover maternity, adoption and surrogacy entitlement packs, plus a booking letter and a change/cancel letter. Use the employer's forms if they insist.

1. 1
   Check both parents meet the GOV.UK tests SPL and ShPP have separate eligibility pages for birth and for adoption or surrogacy. The birth parent must take the compulsory maternity leave after birth (2 weeks, or 4 in a factory) before leftover weeks can be shared. Up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay can be shared in the first year.
2. 2
   End maternity or adoption leave (or pay) at a future date Give the curtailment notice to that employer. Acas says the other parent can start SPL while the birth parent is still on maternity leave, if the end date is already fixed.
3. 3
   Send the notice of entitlement at least 8 weeks before the first SPL day Include the leftover weeks, the planned split, dates you have in mind, and both signatures. The other parent signs a declaration that you share responsibility and meet the employment and earnings test.
4. 4
   Send the booking notice with start and end dates, again at least 8 weeks out One continuous block cannot be refused. Several blocks in one notice are discontinuous leave — see the next section. Prefer three separate continuous bookings if you need gaps and want dates the employer cannot refuse.
5. 5
   Reply within 14 days if the employer asks for evidence GOV.UK: they may ask for a birth certificate, or a declaration of place and date of birth if the birth is not yet registered, plus the partner's employer's name and address (or a declaration that the partner has no employer). Adoption has a matching-agency list instead. You have 14 days to supply it.

Can my employer refuse discontinuous blocks?

Yes, if you put two or more blocks with work in between in a single booking notice. Acas says the employer can refuse a discontinuous pattern that does not suit the organisation. Continuous leave (one block per notice) cannot be refused.

• If no pattern is agreed within 14 days, you may withdraw the request or take the same number of weeks as one continuous block.
• If you withdraw within 15 days, Acas says that notice does not count toward the usual three-notice limit.
• HMRC's statutory payments manual adds that if you take the continuous fallback, you pick a start date at least 8 weeks after the original notice and tell the employer within 5 days after the two-week discussion period ends.
• A change of dates later needs 8 weeks' written notice before both the old date and the new date, unless you agree something different.

GOV.UK says you might not get SPL or ShPP if the notice leaves out required information. That is a paperwork warning, not a MayTally eligibility decision.

What about Shared Parental Pay and SPLIT days?

ShPP is a separate money test from the leave notice. Where ShPP is payable, the GOV.UK 2026 to 2027 employer rates list Statutory Shared Parental Pay as £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, from 6 April 2026. That matches the MayTally 2026–27 rate card. Some employers pay more under a contract. This page does not calculate your figure.

Employee rights when on leave describes SPLIT days: up to 20 shared-parental-leave-in-touch days during SPL, on top of the 10 keeping-in-touch days that sit on maternity or adoption leave. Both are optional and need agreement. They are not a second notice scheme — see the KIT-days page if you are still on maternity leave.

In shortIn short: send entitlement and booking notices at least 8 weeks before the first day. Continuous blocks cannot be refused; discontinuous blocks in one notice can. Reply to a 14-day evidence request within 14 days. Look up ShPP on GOV.UK rather than treating the statutory weekly figure as automatic.