Shared parental leave – sex discrimination

31 July 2019

The cases of Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd and Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police both relate to shared parental leave and whether it is sex discrimination to deny male employees the chance to receive enhanced pay whilst taking shared parental leave. In Ali v Capita the EAT said that it was not direct discrimination to only offer the enhanced pay for maternity leave. In Hextall, the EAT said that such a policy may be indirect sex discrimination because fathers can only take shared parental leave if they want to care for their baby whereas mothers have a choice about whether to take it or remain on maternity leave. Both decisions have been appealed to the Court of Appeal.