An employee qualifies for statutory paternity leave on the birth of a baby if they are:
In addition, they must:
The EWC is the week in which the expected date of the baby's birth falls starting with the preceding Sunday and ending the following Saturday.
Length
Eligible employees can choose to take up to 2 weeks' paternity leave.
In Northern Ireland, this must be taken as a single block of leave (i.e. 1 week or 2 weeks).
In England, Wales and Scotland, if the EWC is after 6 April 2024, employees can choose to take the leave in a single block or in 2 separate blocks of 1 week.
The duration of leave remains the same regardless of the number of children resulting from a single pregnancy.
Start date
An employee cannot start their leave until the baby is born, but does have a choice of 3 options for when it can start:
1. On the actual date of the baby's birth.
2. A specified number of days (of their choice) after the baby's birth.
3. On a particular date (which can't be earlier than the EWC). If the baby is not born by this date, they must at that point choose another date or one of the options above and give you notice of this as soon as possible (in writing, if you ask for it to be).
If an employee specifies the date of birth as the day they wish to start their paternity leave and they are at work on that day, their leave will begin on the next day.
Deadlines
In Northern Ireland:
In England, Wales and Scotland, where the EWC is after 6 April 2024:
By the end of the 15th week before the EWC, the employee must tell you:
This doesn't have to be in writing unless you ask for it to be.
You can also ask the employee to give you a signed declaration that says:
Where the EWC is after 6 April 2024, there are 2 sets of notice requirements:
Requirement 1
By the end of the 15th week before the EWC, the employee must give you:
Requirement 2
The employee must also give you the following at least 28 days before either the paternity leave start date, or the first day of the EWC (if they plan to start paternity leave on the date of birth):
If the employee splits their paternity leave into 2 separate periods of 1 week and notifies you of each period separately, this requirement applies to both periods.
Throughout the UK, if the employee misses the deadline for any of the notice requirements outlined above, you're not under any obligation to allow paternity leave, unless it was not reasonably practicable for the employee to meet the deadline (e.g. if the mother of baby did not realise she was pregnant).
If this is the case, the employee must still provide you with the notice as soon as it is reasonably practicable for them to do so.
The employee does not have to give you any medical evidence of the pregnancy, but they must tell you (in writing, if you ask for that) the actual date of birth. They must give you this as soon as reasonably practicable after the birth.
The employee can change the date when they want their paternity leave to start (or cancel it) if they give you the correct amount of notice (which you can request they put in writing).
If the employee wants to change their leave so it starts on the date of birth, they must tell you at least 28 days before the first day of the EWC.
If they want to change their leave so it starts on a specific date, they must tell you at least 28 days before that date.
If they want to change their leave so it starts a specified number of days after the birth, they must tell you at least 28 days before the expected start of their leave. The expected start is the first day of the EWC, plus the number of days they've specified. For example, if the employee wants to start their leave 14 days after the birth and the EWC begins on 16 July, the expected start date is 30 July. They will need to tell you 28 days before this (i.e. by 2 July).
Where the EWC is after 6 April 2024, they must tell you at least 28 days before the date they originally gave you, or 28 days before the new start date (whichever is earlier).
For example, if in the last notice given to you they said they wanted to start their leave on 30 July:
The employee doesn't have to put the change in writing, unless you ask them to.
When the employee gives you notice of the change, they must also give you a written declaration that they'll use the amended period of leave to care for the child and/or support the child's mother.
Throughout the UK, if it's not reasonably practicable for the employee to give the correct amount of notice to change their paternity leave start date, they can still change it provided they give you notice as soon as it is reasonably practicable.
As mentioned above, in a situation where the employee has chosen to begin their paternity leave on a specific date and the child is not then born by that date, they must change it. They must:
An employee will still be entitled to take statutory paternity leave in the following situations:
However, in England, Wales and Scotland where the EWC is after 6 April 2024, these events may affect when the employee can take paternity leave.
An employee who hasn't already booked a period of paternity leave when one of the above events occurs can still do so, but the leave must start and end within 8 weeks following the end of the week in which the baby dies or is stillborn.
If, at the time the baby dies or is stillborn, the employee has already (correctly) booked a period of paternity leave (even if it's due to start on a date that is after the 8-week period described above), they can choose to either: