Job Sharing in 2026/27: How Pay, Pension and Holiday Actually Split Between Two People
A job share splits one full-time role's salary, pension and holiday pro-rata between two people — but how the split is structured, and what happens if one partner leaves, catches many job-sharers off guard.
How Pay Splits Between Partners
| Split Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Even 50/50 | Each partner works half the full-time hours, receives half the full-time equivalent salary |
| Uneven (e.g. 60/40) | Each partner's pay reflects their own specific proportion of hours worked |
Each partner is treated as an individual part-time employee, receiving their own proportional share based on their own agreed hours — not a joint or combined payment arrangement.
Pension Contributions: Fully Individual
| How It's Calculated | |
|---|---|
| Employee contribution | Based on each partner's own pro-rata earnings |
| Employer contribution | Based on each partner's own pro-rata earnings |
| Auto-enrolment eligibility | Assessed individually against each partner's own earnings, not the combined role total |
This means two job-share partners with different individual pay (due to an uneven split, or different personal pension arrangements) will have correspondingly different pension contributions, entirely independent of each other.
Holiday: No Need to Coordinate
Each partner accrues their own full statutory holiday entitlement (5.6 weeks, pro-rata) based on their own hours — this isn't a combined 5.6 weeks split between the two people, but a full individual entitlement for each partner, calculated exactly as for any other part-time employee.
What Happens If One Partner Leaves
| Possible Outcome | Depends On |
|---|---|
| Remaining partner continues in existing hours while a replacement is recruited | Common arrangement, but not universal |
| Remaining partner offered increased hours to cover the gap | Employer/individual agreement |
| Contractual specifics | Individual employment contract terms |
It's important to understand your own specific contractual position before entering a job-share arrangement — there's no single universal rule about what happens when one partner leaves, and assuming either automatic continuation or automatic termination without checking your contract could lead to an unwelcome surprise.
Redundancy, Notice and Length of Service: Individual, Not Combined
| Factor | Calculated Based On |
|---|---|
| Redundancy pay | Each partner's own age, length of service, and own actual weekly pay |
| Notice period | Each partner's own contractual terms |
| Length of service | Each partner's own individual employment history |
Requesting a Job Share
A job share can be requested under the statutory right to request flexible working (available from day one of employment), but employers can decline a specific request for one of the permitted statutory business reasons, provided the correct process for considering the request is followed.
Frequently asked questions
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