Paternity Information

Policy last updated:

About this information

Next

Entitlement to paternity leave

  • Paternity leave is available on the birth of a child if the employee has been continuously employed by the employer for at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth and either:
    • the employee is the biological father and will have some responsibility for the child’s upbringing; or
    • the employee is the partner (that is, spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner) of the mother, and will have the main responsibility (with the mother) for the child’s upbringing; or
    • the child is born to a surrogate mother where the employee or his/her partner is, one of the child’s biological parents, and the employee expects to obtain a parental order giving them and their partner legal responsibility for the child.
  • Paternity leave is available where a child is placed with the employee for adoption by an adoption agency, if the employee has been continuously employed by the employer for at least 26 weeks ending with the week in which the agency notifies the employee that they have been matched with a child.
  • In adoption or surrogacy cases the employee may be entitled to take adoption leave instead (see the Adoption Information). However, adoption leave may only be taken by one parent. Paternity leave is available to the other parent (of either sex) who does not take the adoption leave. This, however, will be limited to the periods of time allowed for paternity leave (2 weeks). For further details, please see the Paternity Information.
Previous Next

Taking paternity leave

  • Paternity leave is a period of one or two weeks’ leave taken when a child is born, or placed with the employee for adoption. The employee can start the leave on the date of birth or placement, or later, provided it is taken within one year (52 weeks) of the birth or placement.
  • If the baby is premature, the employee can take their statutory paternity leave from the day the baby is born and the period within which they can take their leave ends 52 weeks after the start of the Expected Week of Childbirth
  • The employee can either take their paternity leave as a two week block, or this can be split into two separate blocks of one week.
  • To be eligible to take paternity leave the employee must give the employer written notice by the end of the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (or no more than seven days after the adoption agency notified the employee of being matched with a child), or as soon as the employee reasonably can, stating:o the Expected Week of Childbirth;

    o whether they are either/or:

    o The child’s father; and/or

    o married to, the civil partner or partner of the mother or birth parent. This includes same-sex partners.

    o that they are planning to take paternity leave (although you don’t need to specify exact dates)

  • The employee will need to give their employer notice of their leave dates 28 days before they intend to take their leave.
Previous Next

Paternity pay

  • Statutory paternity pay (SPP) is payable during paternity leave provided the employee has at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment ending with the Qualifying Week (the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth or the week in which the adoption agency notified the employee of a match) and the employee’s average earnings are not less than the lower earnings limit set by the government each tax year. The rate of SPP is set by the government each tax year. If in doubt, the government website here should be checked as these limits change each year.
Previous Next

During paternity leave

  • All the usual terms and conditions of the employee’s employment remain in force during paternity leave, except for the terms relating to pay.
  • Holiday entitlement will continue to accrue during paternity leave. If the employee’s paternity leave continues into the next holiday year, any remaining holiday that is not taken or cannot reasonably be taken before the paternity leave starts can be carried over to the next holiday year and must be taken immediately before returning to work or within a set period of returning to work according to the employer’s policy.
  • If the employee is a member of a pension scheme, the employer must make employer pension contributions during paternity leave, based on the employee’s normal salary, in accordance with the scheme rules. Any employee contributions made by the employee will be based on the amount of any paternity pay the employee is receiving, unless the employee informs the employer or the Pensions Administrator that you wish to make up any shortfall.
Previous