Paternity Leave

An employee who has a child born or expected to be born or placed for adoption and who satisfies certain criteria is entitled to take either one week or two consecutive weeks off as paternity leave. It is up to the employee to decide whether to take one or two weeks.

Statutory paternity leave can be taken any time up to 56 days after the date of birth or placement for adoption (or if the baby is born prematurely up to 56 days after the originally expected date of birth).

The employee must give the employer written notice in or before the 15th week before the expected week of the child's birth (there is a special consideration if it is not reasonably practicable to comply with this requirement). The date the leave starts can be changed if 28 days' notice is given.

The rules, which give employees the right to paternity leave on adoption of a child, are separate from and in addition to the rules that give their spouses or partners the right to adoption leave.

In most cases, the employee will be entitled to statutory paternity pay during paternity leave. It will be the lesser of £100 per week or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings.

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