The Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 gave fathers and other eligible employees (including same-sex partners) a further right to take Additional Paternity Leave (APL) of up to 26 weeks to care for a child where the mother (or adopter) has returned to work. Although the Regulations have been in force for some time, they only apply to those babies due on or after 3rd April 2011 – hence the recent media reports.
The additional leave available to eligible employees is on top of the existing two weeks Ordinary Paternity Leave (OPL) that has been available to fathers since 2003. OPL must be taken as either one whole week or two consecutive weeks and cannot start before the baby is born and must end no later than eight weeks after the baby is born.
Who can request Additional Paternity Leave?
Employees must be eligible to request APL and comply with certain notice and evidential requirements. An employee will not be able to take APL unless and until the mother has returned to work, although it does not have to be immediately after (thus preventing overlaps in leave and pay). The leave must be taken within a window of between 20 weeks – 52 weeks after the birth of the child and must be continuous.
Employees may be entitled to Additional Statutory Paternity Pay provided that they earn more than the lower earnings limit in force (currently £102 per week). To receive this, the mother must have been in receipt of SMP / Maternity Allowance and must have returned to work with at least 2 weeks of their pay period remaining. Additional Statutory Paternity Pay will be payable only within the 39 week period – the last 13 weeks of the 52 weeks leave available to both parents collectively are unpaid.
How paternity regulation changes affect employers?
Although it is not yet clear how big the take up will be on APL across the workforce, employers will face some changes in terms of how they manage parental rights, particularly in the male dominated industries that are not used to handling longer term absences and issues surrounding maternity leave and return to work rights. Nevertheless, it is hoped that this extra right will give employees more opportunity to split childcare in the best way possible for them to give them the opportunity to raise a family and allow both parents to keep their jobs in circumstances where they may have otherwise felt forced to choose between one or the other.
For more employment law advice regarding paternity leave or to comment on this article, please contact us to speak to a member of our employment law specialists.