I’m about to become a dad – what am I entitled to?
You can take either 1 or 2 weeks off when your baby arrives as long as:
- you expect to be involved in bringing up your child, and
- you have been in the job since at least a week before your partner became pregnant. (Technically speaking, you have worked for your employer for 26 weeks or more by the 15th week before your baby is due).
"I'm an agency worker - what do I get?"
You will be entitled to SPP if you meet the conditions. Your employer is usually the agency you work for.
This is called paternity leave. It doesn't count as part of your holiday.
For some reason, you cannot take a week and a half off - you can only chose between taking one week and two weeks and they have to be taken together. Which you choose is entirely up to you. Your boss should not put pressure on you to take only one week.
Is it paid?
"I'm self-employed - what can I get?"
If you are self-employed, you won't be entitled to statutory paternity pay, but on the upside, you can give yourself as long as you want off.
Most dads are entitled to Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) as long as they earn more than £102 each week on average in 2011-12. SPP is £128.73 in 2011-12 (or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that are less). Check your contract though; your work may be more generous than the legal minimum.
If you are not entitled to SPP, you may be entitled to Income Support for those two weeks if you are on a low income.
When can I take it?
You can start your leave any time from the first day of the week in which the baby is due, and it must have finished by the time your baby is 56 days old (or, if the baby comes early, by 56 days after the Sunday before the baby was due).
You can choose to start your leave on a particular date, or you can choose the day your baby is born (whenever that turns out to be).
Ask Bev!
I wanted to take 2 weeks paternity leave but we’re busy at work and I’m being put under pressure to only take one. I don’t want to be seen as uncommitted but I want to be at home. What should I do?
Paternity leave is short enough without your boss trying to make it even shorter. And of course, you will want to spend quality time with your new child. Try writing a short note to your boss, saying you need to take the full two weeks. Give him/her a sense of how busy you will be when you are off by telling him what your plans are once the baby is here. There is no need to do this, but letting your boss know how excited you are and why you want the time off often eases the situation.
If you are treated badly or sacked because you take the full two weeks, you are likely to have a claim for unfair dismissal and (whether you are a man or a woman) sex discrimination.
What do I need to do?
"I’m not the biological dad. What do I do?"
Paternity leave and pay isn’t just for biological dads. If you are the live-in partner, husband, or civil partner of the mum, you can also take paternity leave as long as you expect to be responsible for the child’s upbringing. You can also take paternity leave if you are adopting a child and your partner is taking adoption leave.
It is possible for two people to be entitled to take paternity leave for the same baby – this might happen if both the dad and the mum’s partner expect to be involved in the child’s upbringing.
You don't have to tell your boss in writing, but it's always a good idea to put it down on paper.
By the week before your baby is due, you need to have told your boss whether you want to take one week's leave or two, and when you want the leave to start.
(If you are adopting, you need to tell your employer when you were told about the match, when you expect the placement to start, whether you wish to take one week or two, and when you want the leave to start all at the same time).
If you change your mind about when you want to start your leave, you must give your employer as much notice as you possibly can.
If you want to get Statutory Paternity Pay, you must complete form SC3 - 'Statutory Paternity Pay' (available from 'Links to other websites') and give it to your boss.
Additional paternity leave
If your baby is due on or after 3rd April 2011, you will be able to take extra paternity leave if the mother of the child is going to go back to work early. Your baby must be 5 months old when your additional paternity leave starts. You will get paid Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (at the same rate) for as long as the babies mother would have received Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance if she had not gone back to work.
What about after my leave?
"I'm on a short-term contract. What do I do?"
If you will still be employed when the baby is due, you will be entitled to SPP. If it is not certain whether you will still be employed when the baby is due, get advice – see How to find an adviser.
See Changing your hours or how you work and Taking time off for details of what you can do to balance your new fatherly responsibilities with your work. It includes your right to ask to change your hours, take time off to look after your little bundle of joy, or what you can do if you need to stay home because they are sick.
