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Parents
Paternity leave and pay: overview
If you are a father-to-be or you'll be responsible with the mother for bringing up the child, you have the right to paid paternity leave providing you meet certain conditions.
Interactive help
You can get personalised help on what you qualify for by using the Tailored Interactive Guidance on Employment Rights (TIGER) tool.
The tool will produce a personalised statement of the paternity leave and pay that you may qualify for, along with an interactive calendar to help you plan your leave.
Paternity leave isn't the same as parental leave, which is unpaid leave that working parents can take to look after children under the age of five, or if the child is disabled under the age of 18.
Are you entitled to paid statutory paternity leave?
To qualify for paternity pay and leave you must be an ‘employee’. If you are a ‘worker’ you will not qualify for leave but may qualify for pay. If you are unsure if you are a ‘worker’ or an ‘employee’ read the article below.
You can take statutory paternity leave if you:
- are an employee, with a contract of employment; and
- are the biological father of the child or you are the mother's husband or partner (including same-sex relationships); or you are the child's adopter or the partner of the adopter; and
- have been with your employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the start of the week when the baby's due; or by the end of the week in which you are notified of being matched with your child; and
- will be fully involved in the child's upbringing and are taking the time off to support the mother or care for the baby
To qualify for pay you must also:
• earn at least the lower earnings limit (LEL) for National Insurance contributions
If you earn less than the LEL, (currently £90 a week), you have the right to unpaid paternity leave if you meet the other conditions, and could get Income Support while on paternity leave.
If you are not an employee, but are an agency worker, office holder or sub contractor, you will not normally have the right to paternity leave, but may be eligible for pay if you meet the other qualifying criteria.
What if you don't qualify?
If you don't qualify for paternity leave, your employer may be prepared to give you some time off, or you could take paid holiday.
How much paternity leave can you take?
As long as you meet certain conditions you can take either one or two weeks. You can't take odd days off and if you take two weeks they must be taken together.
You can choose to start the leave:
- on the day the baby's born
- a number of days or weeks after the baby's born
- from a specific date after the first day of the week in which the baby's expected to be born
Your leave can start on any day of the week (but not before the baby is born), but has to finish within 56 days of the baby being born or, if the baby's born before the week it was due, within 56 days of the first day of that week.
If your partner has a multiple birth, you're only allowed one period of paternity leave.
What happens if you lose your baby?
Provided you meet all the other conditions, you can still take paternity leave if the child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy or is born alive at any point of the pregnancy.
How much paternity pay you can get
If your average weekly earnings are £90 or more (before tax), Statutory Paternity Pay is paid for one or two consecutive weeks at £117.18 or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings if this is less.
Company schemes
Some employers have their own paternity leave arrangements - check your contract of employment. You can always choose the statutory arrangement if this suits you better.
Rights to paternity leave are extra to your normal holiday allowance.
Time off for antenatal appointments
Fathers do not have a legal right to time off to accompany their partners to antenatal appointments as the right to paid time off only applies to pregnant employees. However, many companies recognise how important a time this is and let their employees either take paid time off or make up the time later.
What to do if you have problems
If you are being denied your rights, talk to your employer first of all. If you have an employee representative (for example, a trade union official), they may be able to help.
If this doesn't work, you may need to make a complaint using your employer's internal grievance procedure.
If you're still unhappy, you can make a complaint to an Employment Tribunal.
Where to get help
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues. You can call the Acas helpline on 08457 47 47 47 from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday.
The Labour Relations Agency (LRA) offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues for residents of Northern Ireland. You can contact the LRA on 028 9032 1442 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) can provide free and impartial advice. You can find your local CAB office in the phone book or online.
If you are a member of a trade union, you can get help, advice and support from them
More useful links
- Parental leave and flexible working
- Guidance on paternity rights in Northern Ireland Opens new window
- Advice for employers about paternity leave and pay from Business Link Opens new window
- Detailed guidance on working family rights in Northern Ireland from the Department for Employment and Learning (DELNI) Opens new window
- Advice for employers in Northern Ireland on maternity, paternity and adoption from nibusinessinfo Opens new window
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