Parental Allowance: weekly payments

​​About Parental Allowance

Parental Allowance is a weekly payment to help when you take time off work to prepare or care for your child. This can be a child you have naturally or adopt.

It can be shared between 2 parents, and you can receive it at the same time or separately. The parents must be named on the birth certificate.

The current rate is £283.01 per week. We’ll pay this directly into your bank account for a maximum of 32 weeks.

You’ll receive the same amount even if you have twins or triplets.

To receive Parental Allowance, you must have paid Social Security contributions or had contributions credited for the year before your due date or adoption intention date. Depending on what you paid you may be entitled to full allowances or some.

If you’ve paid contributions in another country during that period, you may be eligible based on these contributions. Contact us for more information.

Parental Grant

In addition to the Parental Allowance, you can also receive Parental Grant. This is a one-off payment to help you with the costs of having a baby.

Find more information on Parental Grant: single payment​.

Applying for Parental Allowance

Your midwife or social worker will partly fill​ the online application form and will email it to you to complete and submit.

They should do this shortly after your 28-week midwife appointment or the date of intention to adopt is set.

You must submit your completed form no later than 6 months after your child is born or adopted.​​

When your Parental Allowance can start

You can choose to start your Parental Allowance anywhere between 11 weeks before your due date and up to your due date or date of intention to adopt is set.

You must have finished work for your Parental Allowance to start.

How does it work

Parental Allowance is a weekly payment paid in arrears, for each parent, for the weeks that they take the leave.

Where there are two parents on a claim the allowance is payable to:

• parent 1: for 6 weeks (if birth mother, they must take six weeks immediately after the child’s birth)
• parent 2: for 6 weeks at anytime in the two year period following the date of birth of the child or the date of intent to adopt
  

An additional 20 weeks is available to be shared between the parents as and when they choose within the two year period following the child’s date of birth or date of intent to adopt.

Parents can take their allocation of 32 weeks in a maximum of three blocks per person, spread out over a two year period, up to the child’s second birthday, or two years after the adoption.

Each block must be at least 14 days long, and there must be at least 14 days between your blocks.  Where there are two parents on a claim they can choose to take their allowance at the same time, or at different times, and their blocks may overlap.

For example

• parent one takes 6 compulsory weeks following date of birth
• parent two takes 6 weeks at any point
• each parent now has 2 blocks left to take the 20 weeks remaining
  
• each parent is free to split the remaining 20 weeks, for example:
  
• parent one could take all 20 in maximum of 2 blocks, or
• split with parent one and two equally with 10 weeks each with a maximum of 2 blocks each, or 
• parent one takes one week and parent two takes 19 weeks, or

If parents are in dispute and cannot agree an allocation of weeks between themselves, we will divide the weeks equally between both parents, 16 weeks each. If there is only one parent on the claim the total allowance will be 32 weeks. 

Working and claiming Parental Allowance: ‘keeping in touch’ time

You can’t work and claim Parental Allowance at the same time, however you are allowed to go into work to 'Keep in touch'. ‘Keeping in touch’ time allows you to stay in touch with your work place while you’re off work to prepare or care for a child.   

During your Parental Allowance claim, you:

• can only work for up to 14 hours in any week
• can only work for a maximum of 70 hours in total
• cannot undertake any work in the first 6 weeks following birth if you are the birth mother

What counts as a 'keeping in touch' time

‘Keeping in touch’ time is counted each time you attend work. For example, a half day training course or a 1 hour meeting would count as keeping in touch time.

Babies born early

If your baby is born early and you've already given up work and started your Parental leave, your Parental Allowance won't be affected.

You won’t be able to claim Parental Allowance if your pregnancy lasts less than 24 weeks, unless a living child is born.

Babies born after their due dates

You don’t need to do anything if your baby is born late, we will automatically update your record.

Newborn babies in hospital care

You can receive extra weeks of allowance if your baby needs urgent hospital care.

The care must start in the first 28 days of their life and be for a minimum of 7 days for either:

• a continuous period
• multiple times within 28 days
  

You’ll receive 1 extra week for the first 7 days they’re in hospital, and 1 extra week for each 1 to 7 days after that. Check out the table below for more information.

The maximum extra allowance you can receive depends on when your baby is born:

• up to 12 weeks if your baby is premature (born before 37 weeks)
• up to 4 weeks if your baby is full term (born at 37 weeks or after)

The extra allowance can be shared between 2 parents, and you can receive it at the same time or separately. The parents must be named on the birth certificate.

If your baby still needs care af​ter they’re 28 days old, you’ll still be entitled to extra allowance as long as it started ​within the first 28 days. We’ll contact you to confirm the allowance you can receive and arrange payment.

If you receive extra allowance, you can take your parental leave in 4 blocks instead of 3.

Protecting your contribution record while claiming Parental Allowance

If you qualify for Parental Allowance, we’ll credit your Social Security contribution record for the same periods as your Parental Allowance payments.

Contribution credits protect your record as though contributions had been paid. They help your entitlement to benefits in the future.

Payment of contributions

Home responsibility protection credits 

You may be able to protect your entitlement to a pension and Survivor’s Benefit with Home Responsibility Protection credits.

You can get these credits if you’re planning to:

• not return to work
• take unpaid leave
• work less than 20 hours per week
  

Home Responsibility Protection credits don’t cover you for sickness or future maternity benefits.    

Contribution credits for parents working 20 hours or less: Home Responsibility Protection

Claiming Parental Allowance and Income Support

If you claim Income Support and start claiming Parental Allowance, your Income Support will be reduced by the amount of your Parental Allowance award. This is because Parental Allowance is considered as income.

Income Support

Claiming Parental Allowance and other benefits

You can’t receive Parental Allowance and another contributory benefit at the same time.

Contributory benefits include:

• Short Term Incapacity Allowance
  
• Long Term Incapacity Allowance
  
• Home Carer's Allowance
• Incapacity pension
  
• Survivors benefit

If you're outside of Jersey

If you're in another country and Jersey has a health agreement with that country which includes parental benefits, we may be able to pay Parental Allowance.    

Speak to one of our advisors in the Health Zone if you’re planning on either having a baby or adopting outside of Jersey.

Contact Health Zone on +44 (0) 1534 444444.

If you disagree with our decision or you don’t understand it

If you've applied for, or are claiming Parental Allowance, and you think our decision is wrong, you can:

1. ask us to explain our decision to you. You can call us, email, write a letter or come into the Customer Hub​​​ to discuss your claim
   
2. if you’re unhappy with this explanation, (or if you prefer), you have 21 days from the date you receive the decision letter to ask us to reconsider your claim and check our calculations. This is called a redetermination
   
3. if you're unhappy with the result of your redetermination, you can appeal to an independent tribunal. You have 14 days from the date you receive your redetermination award or decision letter to submit your appeal
   

Changes in your circumstances

If you would like to request to remove/add or a amend a leave period, you must notify us 28 days before the start date of the relevant leave block.

You must give us 28 days’ notice if you wish to change your payment periods and you must notify us of any changes to your circumstances.

Tell us about your change in circumstance