Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether their Department offers its staff shared parental leave from their first working day.

My Department is not an employer in its own right and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provides the Wales Office with employment services and HR policies, such as Shared Parental Leave.

The Civil Service Management Code states that, ‘Departments and agencies may only grant shared parental leave in accordance with the statutory requirements governing eligibility for this category of leave.’ Some staff could qualify for statutory shared parental leave on their first day of service because they already have service with another department.

As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in preparation for when the Employment Rights Bill 2024 comes into effect.