New fathers who are employees will benefit from greater flexibility when taking paternity leave from 6 April 2024.
Under the current rules, new fathers who meet the eligibility criteria can take either one week or two consecutive weeks of paternity leave, during which time they’re entitled to Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP). This time has to be taken off within eight weeks of the child being born (or adopted).
From 6 April 2024, these rules will become more flexible. From that date, new fathers will be able to take up to two weeks of paternity leave at any time within the child’s first year. They will also be able to choose to either take their paternity leave entitlement all at once, or as two separate weeks.
Rules around providing notice will also be relaxed. Currently, fathers-to-be have to tell their employer when they plan to take their paternity leave at least 15 weeks before the baby’s due date. From 6 April 2024, by 15 weeks before the birth they will only have to tell their employer that they plan to take paternity leave. They won’t have to specify the dates they plan to take until a minimum of 28 days before each week of paternity leave.
These changes have been introduced following a 2019 consultation on Parental leave and pay and will benefit employees in Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland.
According to that consultation, the relaxation of paternity leave rules should promote solo parenting by new fathers. This has been shown to have positive long term benefits for children, as fathers are likely to be more ‘hands on’ in raising them through later years as a result.
The option for new dads to split their two weeks of paternity leave into two separate blocks will not only provide flexibility for new parents, but should also help new fathers better balance their commitments at work with those at home.
There are services available on GOV.UK to help employers work out the amount of SPP due, either by calculating SPP manually or using an interactive form to work out SPP entitlement. Alternatively, payroll software should be able to calculate the correct amounts, including entitlement during non-consecutive weeks, once it has been updated for the new rules.
This article reflects the position at the date of publication (18 October 2023). If you are reading this at a later date you are advised to check that that position has not changed in the time since.
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