Insights overview

Supreme Court resolves issue – shared parental pay does not need to match maternity pay

In an update to Lucy Sorrell’s article last year, the Supreme Court has now refused permission to appeal in the case of Chief Constable of Leicestershire v Hextall.

The Court of Appeal’s decision published last year therefore remains binding as the final word on the subject. This is useful guidance for employers that it is not discriminatory to pay men on shared parental leave less than an enhanced rate of maternity pay paid to women on maternity leave. While employers may still choose to provide an enhancement to shared parental pay if they wish (e.g. if they assess that this might support working mothers returning to the workplace), there is not a legal obligation to do so.