Additional paternity leave and pay introduced

In September 2009, the Government confirmed that it intends to go ahead with plans to allow 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 will be available to parents of children due on or after 3 April 2011.

At present an employee who has been continuously employed for 26 or more weeks by the end of the 15th week before the child's expected week of birth has the right to take either one or two consecutive weeks' paternity leave. Such leave must be taken for the purposes of caring for the child or supporting the child's mother and must generally be taken within 56 days of the date on which the child is born.

The new right will allow employees to take up to 26 weeks' additional paternity leave within the child's first year. In normal circumstances, additional paternity leave will be available during the second six months of the child's life - the first six months will be preserved for the mother to take maternity leave. The earliest that leave may commence will be 20 weeks after the child is born. An exception to this will be where the mother dies during the first year of the child's life. In these circumstances the date that leave can transfer to the father will be earlier, and the additional paternity leave may last for up to 52 weeks ending no later than the child's first birthday.

If the mother returns to work after 26 weeks' maternity leave but before she has taken her full entitlement to 39 weeks' statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance, the additional paternity leave will be paid at the same rate as the standard rate of statutory maternity pay or 90% of the father's average earnings if this is less than the standard rate. Therefore, fathers will be able to take a maximum of 13 weeks' paid and 13 weeks' unpaid leave.

Additional paternity leave and pay will also be available to adopters. Where a couple adopt and the recipient of statutory adoption pay returns to work before the entitlement is exhausted, the other adopter may take additional paternity leave. Statutory paternity pay will be payable only during the period that the mother, or father, would have received statutory adoption pay had he or she not returned to work. The regulations will not apply to overseas adoptions, in relation to which, separate regulations have been laid before Parliament.

A father taking additional paternity leave will be entitled to take up to 10 keeping-in-touch days during the course of that leave without bringing it to an end. He will also, following a single period of additional paternity leave of 26 weeks or less, have the right to return to the same job that he was employed in before his absence. Adoptive fathers will benefit from the same enhanced rights as biological fathers. The mother's husband, partner or civil partner will also enjoy the same rights as long as he (or she) expects to have the main responsibility (apart from any responsibility of the mother) for the child's upbringing.

On 25 September 2009, the Government launched Choice for families: additional paternity leave and pay - consultation on draft Regulations (PDF format, 687K), which is available on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) website together with the Government's Response to consultation on choice and flexibility: additional paternity leave and pay (PDF format, 110K). Draft Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 and draft Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (General) Regulations 2010 have been laid before Parliament. The Regulations are due to come into force on 6 April 2010, but will have effect for parents of children due on or after 3 April 2011 (or adopters notified of a match for adoption on or after 3 April 2011).

The Government originally stated that the introduction of additional paternity leave and pay would coincide with the extension of statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay and maternity allowance to 52 weeks. However, it has not announced a date for extending maternity rights.

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