Additional paternity leave and pay available
Additional paternity leave and pay allows fathers to benefit from up to six months' additional paternity leave if the mother returns to work before using her full entitlement to statutory maternity leave. The new right is available to parents of children with an expected week of childbirth beginning on or after 3 April 2011.
To be eligible for the right, employees must have been continuously employed for 26 or more weeks by the end of the 15th week before the child's expected week of birth. The right will also be available to adopters.
The earliest that employees can take additional paternity leave is 20 weeks after the child is born but leave will usually be taken during the second six months of the child's life so that the first six months will be reserved for the mother to take maternity leave.
Fathers will be entitled to take up to 10 keeping-in-touch days during the course of the additional paternity leave and, where they have taken additional paternity leave of 26 weeks or less, have the right to return to the same job in which they were employed before they commenced the leave.
- Employment law manual: Paternity and adoption rights The XpertHR employment law manual provides further guidance on the proposed changes as well as comprehensive guidance on existing paternity and adoption rights.
- Company paternity leave policy (employees whose child has an expected week of birth beginning on or after 3 April 2011) Use this model policy to guide managers and employees in relation to employees' entitlement to both ordinary and additional paternity leave and pay where the expected week of childbirth begins on or after 3 April 2011.
- Company maternity policy (employees whose child has an expected week of childbirth beginning on or after 3 April 2011) Use this model policy to guide managers and employees as to employees' rights and responsibilities during pregnancy and their entitlement to maternity leave and pay where the expected week of childbirth begins on or after 3 April 2011.
- Outlook video: Additional paternity leave XpertHR's head of content Jo Stubbs and group editor David Shepherd discuss the new right for fathers to take additional paternity leave where their partner returns to work before taking her full year's maternity leave.
Also
Maternity rights, paternity rights and adoption rights The XpertHR policies and documents section on maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay provides a full set of model policies, contract clauses, forms and letters.
The XpertHR FAQs section includes questions and answers on additional paternity leave and pay, for example:
- Which employees will be able to benefit from the new right to additional paternity leave?
- Is there a specific time period when additional paternity leave can be taken?
- Can an employer ask an employee for proof that he or she qualifies for additional paternity leave?
- Are employees entitled to be paid during additional paternity leave?
- For how many weeks may an employee be paid additional statutory paternity pay?
