Petition · past parliament
Extend Maternity / Shared Parental Leave from 12 months to 15 months
Closed
34 signatures
What the petition asks
Returning to work after maternity can be a hard and difficult experience. Extending the period of unpaid leave from 3 months to 6 months after SM Pay ends could help overcome the difficulties of new caring responsibilities, sleepless nights, breastfeeding, changed body and separation anxiety.
Extending unpaid leave could:
- Give another choice other than leaving employment or returning before ready
- Encourage fathers to take shared parental leave
- Provide job security, for example if a partner faced possible redundancy
- Enable mothers to start their leave before the birth without losing time after
- Give the right to request additional unpaid leave, especially relevant if the parent must return due to Occupational Maternity Pay requirements.
- Give another choice other than leaving employment or returning before ready
- Encourage fathers to take shared parental leave
- Provide job security, for example if a partner faced possible redundancy
- Enable mothers to start their leave before the birth without losing time after
- Give the right to request additional unpaid leave, especially relevant if the parent must return due to Occupational Maternity Pay requirements.
Timeline
| 11 Oct 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 11 Apr 2022 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
34
Status
Closed
Opened
11 Oct 2021
Closed
11 Apr 2022
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.