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Paternity Leave Rights
If yoru wife/partner is expecting a baby, as the father you have
certain rights and benefits at work. These will however depend on
your circumstance and national insurance contributions.
Here are some useful pointers and some basic guidance, however,
we recommend you seek more professional advice for further details.
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Do you qualify?
- You must have been employed continuously for at least 26 weeks by
the end of the 15th week before the EWC.
- You must be the father of the child, or be married to, or the partner
of, the child's mother or adopter.
- You must have, or expect to have, responsibility for upbringing
the child.
- Only one period of leave is allowed whether there is more than 1
child born as a result of the same pregnancy.
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Notice Period required from employees
You must inform you employer that you wish to take paternity leave
by the end of the 15th week before the EWC, unless this is not reasonably
practicable. You must let them know what week the baby is expected,
whether you want 1 or 2 weeks leave and when you want your leave to
start.
You can change your mind about when you wish to start your leave,
but you must let your employer know at least 28 days in advance
(unless this is not reasonably practicable).
Your employer is required to respond to your notification of place
within 28 days (unless this date has been varied, in which case,
your employer must respond within 28 days of the start of paternity
leave). The employer must write to you, setting out the date when
you are expected to return to work.
The earliest date that you are able to start your leave is the
date of the child's birth.
The latest date of commencement for leave - this date means the
completion of leave is 56 days after the date of birth or EWC, whichever
is later.
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Length of paternity leave
You are entitled to 1 or 2 weeks for your paternity leave.
The maximum length is 2 weeks and you cannot take these 2 weeks
separately in 1 week periods.
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Statutory Paternity Pay and Paternity Allowance
During your paternity leave, you are entitled to Statutory Paternity
Pay (SPP) from your employer. Statutory Paternity Pay is paid by employers
for either one or two consecutive weeks as you choose. The rate of
Statutory Paternity Pay is the same as the standard rate of Statutory
Maternity Pay - from April 2005, this is £106 a week or 90%
of average weekly earnings if this is less than £106.
If your average weekly earnings are below the Lower Earnings Limit
for National Insurance (£82 a week from April 2005) you do not
qualify for SPP. If you do not qualify for SPP, or you are normally
low-paid, you may be able to get Income Support while on paternity
leave. Additional financial support may be available through Housing
Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Tax Credits or a Sure Start Maternity
Grant. Further information is available from your local Jobcentre
Plus office or Social Security office.
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Where to find additional or further information:
- Local Benefits Office or the Citizens Advice Buraeu
- Your employer - HR department, trade union
- Tiger
- To check your own maternity rights, a great site to use is Tiger.
This is an interactive website which covers both the existing and
the new rights. There is also an interactive calendar to help with
planning leave and a form to help with notifying employers about maternity
leave intentions.
- DTI
- To find out the latest changes to you right, please take this
link to a basic summary, supplied by the DTI.
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