The Chancellor announced in the budget that from April 2018 the right to shared parental leave is to be extended to grandparents. This may be too late for my wife and I to help with our new grandson, Evan who joined us on 1 April, but his parents do have the option of splitting parental leave between them.
There has been recent publicity about how few fathers are taking up their option to take more than their two weeks paternity leave but this is bound to increase. Employers need to be aware of employees rights and what to do if they receive a request for shared parental leave. It is important to have an agreed policy so that all employees are treated equally and fairly.