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Introduction to this document

Paternity leave request form

The right to paternity leave entitles eligible employees to take either a single period of one or two weeks off work or two non-consecutive periods of one week each off work following the birth or adoption of a child for the purpose of caring for the child or supporting the child’s mother or adopter. Even though it’s called paternity leave, it is available to same-sex partners.

Eligibility

To be eligible for paternity leave, an employee must have responsibility for the child’s upbringing, be the biological father or joint adopter of the child or the mother’s/adopter’s husband, civil partner or partner and have worked continuously for you for at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the baby is due or, in respect of an adopted child, ending with the week in which the child’s adopter is notified of having been matched with the child.

Paternity entitlement

Employees are entitled to take up to two weeks’ paternity leave in total, and these can be consecutive or non-consecutive weeks. Paternity leave cannot be taken as odd days. A period of paternity leave can start either from the date the child is born or adopted, or from a chosen number of days or weeks after the date of childbirth or placement of the child for adoption, or from a predetermined date. It must be completed within 52 weeks of the date of childbirth or placement for adoption or, if the child is born early, within 52 weeks of the first day of the expected week of childbirth. During paternity leave, most employees will be entitled to statutory paternity pay (SPP).

Notice requirements

Employees are required to inform you of their entitlement to take paternity leave by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or, in the case of an adopted child, no later than seven days after the date on which notification of the match with the child was given by the adoption agency – see our Notice of Paternity Leave Entitlement.

In addition, the employee must give you 28 days’ prior notice of each period of paternity leave (birth cases), or notice of each period of paternity leave which is given no later than seven days after the date on which notification of the match with the child was given by the adoption agency (adoption cases), or in either case they must give notice as soon as is reasonably practicable where it was not reasonably practicable for them to give notice on time. That notice must be in writing if you so request, and it must specify the start date of the period of paternity leave requested and its duration. Within the same time limit, the employee must also give you a written declaration that the purpose of their paternity leave is to care for the child or support the child’s mother/adopter. We’ve enabled the employee to provide all the relevant information through our Paternity Leave Request Form.