No 95 The Maternity and Adoption Leave (Curtailment of Statutory Rights to Leave) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015
These Regulations come into operation on 15/3/15 and enable an expectant mother or a mother on maternity leave, or an adopter or a prospective adopter to give notice to end her/his relevant entitlement on a specific future date.
Where such entitlements have been curtailed , the balance of the untaken period of leave may be taken as shared parental leave if the parents satisfy entitlement and notification criteria.
The benefit of curtailing leave, rather than the mother or adopter simply returning to work, is that it enables the number of weeks of maternity or adoption leave that will be untaken at that date to be known in advance and allows the child’s father or the mother’s or adopter’s partner to start taking shared parental leave whilst the mother or adopter remains on maternity or adoption leave. This enables both parents to be at home together with the child from the earliest stages following birth or placement for adoption.