This information is aimed at men who are employees. If you are self-employed or a “worker”, your rights will be different to those of a full employee.

You're entitled to either one week or two consecutive weeks’ paternity leave. Leave must be taken during a specified period – it begins on the day the child is born and finishes 56 days after the day the child is born. Paternity leave applies to people in same-sex partnerships as well as heterosexual partnerships. The paternity leave regulations also apply to parents to-be whose partners are adopting a child. One or two weeks of SPP, provided you have completed 26 weeks continuous service with your employer ending with the qualifying week – that is, the 15th week before your partner's expected week of childbirth.  90% of salary or a maximum of £112.75 per week, whichever is lower.

There is only one period of leave available even for multiple births.

Occupational Paternity Pay
This is offered by some employers as an incentive. It is often offset by any SPP payments to which you are entitled, with the exception of the standard rate SPP which is paid in addition to OMP. However, the sum of the OMP and SMP usually cannot exceed your normal full pay in any week. Your contract should state the conditions for any OMP entitlement.

Service
You are entitled to Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) if you have been continuously employed by your current employer for 26 weeks or more by the 15th week before the baby is due. If your baby is premature, you still qualify for SSP.

Earnings
SPP is calculated on the basis of the money received during the 8 weeks up to and including the 15th week before the week in which the baby is due. A week’s pay will be the weekly average earnings over that 8-week period. If a pay rise is awarded from the start of that 8 week period up to the end of the paternity leave period, the paternity pay would be adjusted with immediate effect.  Your average weekly earnings in the 8 weeks up to and including the qualifying week must have been at least equal to the lower earnings limit (the level at which you start paying National Insurance Contributions) currently £87.  Pay can include holiday pay, bonuses, overtime and sick pay.

Relationship
You are entitled to paid paternity leave if you are the father of the child and expect to have responsibility for the child; or you are married to, or are the partner of, the child’s mother, but are not the child’s father, and you expect to have the main responsibility along with the mother for the upbringing of the child.

Notice
Although there is no legal obligation for you to inform your employer that your partner is pregnant until the 15th week before the week your baby is due, it is important to bear in mind that the laws which apply to you only do so once you have told your employer. If your baby is premature or the pregnancy is discovered late, you should inform your employer as soon as is reasonably practical. You should inform your employer of the expected week of delivery, the length of your leave and the start date within the legal period. Notice is usually given in writing using form SC3 - “Becoming a Parent”, available for download from the HMRC website. Submit a completed certificate and keep a copy.  If you change your mind about your start date, you must give your employer 28 days notice of the change.

If the child is not born on or before that date, you can vary your leave date to begin: with a later pre-determined date; or on a specified number of days after the child is born; or on the date that the child is born. If the latter, and you are working on that day, your paternity leave will start the next day. As soon as you can, you are legally required to inform your employer of the date of the baby's birth.

Sample letter giving notice

8 January 2007   
Name of employee: Steve Brownley
National insurance number: AB123456
 
Dear Mr Harris,
 
My partner is expecting a baby and I will have joint responsibility for the upbringing of the child.  I am the baby’s biological father/married to the mother/in a civil partnership with the  mother/living with the mother in an enduring family relationship, but not an immediate  relative (delete as appropriate).  I am applying to take time off work to support my partner  and care for the child.
 
The expected date of birth for our baby is 21 April 2007.  I would like to start my
paternity leave the day the baby is born, whenever this occurs, and to receive my
paternity pay from this date, but I understand that if I am at work when the baby arrives,  my leave and pay will start the day after. I would like to take 2 weeks leave and pay.

Yours sincerely,
 
 
Steve Brownley

Additional Financial Support
If you are entitled to paternity leave but not paternity pay, you may be entitled to additional financial support from Income Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Tax Credits, or a Sure Start Maternity Grant. Contact the agencies concerned for more advice. 

If you are entitled to SPP, but are concerned that it will not be enough to support your family whilst you are on paternity leave, you might consider taking some annual leave around the birth of the child instead.  This means that you would receive full pay. You should discuss taking annual leave with your employer in the usual way.

Contractual Rights
Your contractual rights will remain unchanged during your period of paternity leave and you are entitled to return to exactly the same job on the same pay.

If you disagree with your employer’s decision about your entitlement to paternity leave or pay, and you cannot resolve this with your employer within 4 weeks of giving notice, you can ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for a decision. Contact your local tax office for details of how to do this. There may be other sources of qualified advice, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau or your trade union.

The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.

Last Modified: 11/05/2010