The number of staff applying for Shared Parental Leave is expected to rise substantially over the next 12 months, according to a survey of Bath employers.
Almost two-thirds said they expect employees to apply for time off under the law this year as it becomes better known.
Just 39% said they did not expect any take up in 2016 – a significant reduction from the 89% who reported no take up last year.
However, the overall number of staff expected to take the leave is likely to remain very small. Some 56% of employers predict applications from less than 2% of their workforce. 
The survey was staged by the employment team in the Bath office of law firm Withy King and city-based Juice Recruitment in the run up to the first anniversary of the controversial legislation’s introduction.
Withy King employment partner Richard White, pictured, said: “Our survey reveals that there has been a very low level of take up of Shared Parental Leave since the new laws were introduced for working parents of babies born on or after April 5, 2015. This is expected to change in 2016 as more parents become aware of their options.
“Many of the employers we surveyed complained about the complexity of the new rules, which some found ‘confusing’, as well as the large quantities of paperwork.
“They felt that a general lack of understanding on the part of both employers and employees might explain why take up in the first year has been so low.”
The majority of Bath businesses surveyed (72%) said applications for Shared Parental Leave were at the level they had anticipated – but 22% said take-up was even lower than they were expecting.
Some 39% thought the main reason was loss of earnings, while 28% thought cultural perception or stigma might be a factor.
Richard White added: “While external factors and personal circumstances will always be the major driver, it’s clear that employers can do more to level the playing field.
“It was interesting that 22% of employers offered enhanced payments over and above the statutory requirements for normal maternity leave, but didn’t extend this to Shared Parental Leave. A disparity between the two schemes will clearly make one less attractive and in many cases, less viable.”
