Employees will be eligible for statutory paternity leave and pay if they are the father of the child or husband or partner of the mother if they meet certain eligibility criteria. The employee must expect to have responsibility for the upbringing of the child to be eligible for paternity leave. Further, to be eligible, an employee must have been employed by the employer for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.
Employees choose to take either one complete week or two consecutive weeks’ ordinary paternity leave. The leave can start from the date of the child’s birth or adoption or on a chosen day after the date of the child’s birth or adoption. In the case of a birth, the leave must be completed by the time the baby is 56 days old. In the case of an adoption, the leave must be completed within 56 days of the child being placed. Only one period of leave will be available even if more than one child is born as the result of the same pregnancy, or more than one child is being adopted.
During paternity leave, employees should be paid statutory paternity pay (currently £138.18) or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is the lower.
If an employee is eligible for ordinary paternity leave, he will also be eligible for additional paternity leave. This additional leave can be taken only once the mother / adopter has returned to work from a period of statutory maternity or statutory adoption leave. Additional paternity leave must be for a minimum of two weeks, and a maximum of 26 weeks. It can start no earlier than 20 weeks after the birth or placement of the child and must end not later than 12 months after the birth/placement. If the mother / adopter has not taken his/her full entitlement to statutory maternity or statutory adoption pay this may transfer to the employee taking additional paternity leave.
This article sets out the provisions relating to paternity leave currently in force at the time of writing. Readers may be aware that the government is rolling out a new system of shared parental leave to give parents more flexibility over how to share periods of leave during the first year after the birth of a child. This may include both parents taking a period of leave together and leave being taken in more than one block. In Great Britain, the new arrangements will take effect for children born or placed for adoption after 5th April 2015. While the date for implementation in Northern Ireland has not yet been confirmed, it is likely to be at a similar time.
Collective Questions is intended as a guide and for general information only and is not a substitute for taking specific advice relating to your situation. For specific advice regarding this or any other issue relating to employing people, please do not hesitate to contact us.
