This policy aims to detail the employee’s rights, entitlements, the procedure for claiming entitlements and the responsibilities of employees, managers and HR committee.

Appendix A is a visual guide showing the latest dates for notification and what leave and pay employees will receive (subject to eligibility).

3.0 Employee’s paternity related rights

Employees have certain rights under the law, some of which depend on their length of service:

Employees have the right to one or two consecutive weeks Statutory Paternity Leave when;
- their partner is having a baby,
- they are adopting a child,
- or they are having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement
The employee may be entitled to Shared Parental Leave if the child was due or placed for adoption on or after the 5 April 2015
Up to two weeks paid statutory paternity leave (subject to meeting certain criteria)
Right to unpaid time off to accompany their partner (or surrogate mother) to two antenatal appointments or two adoption appointments for a maximum of 6.5 hours per appointment.
The right not to be dismissed due to paternity leave
If returning to work following Paternity Leave, the employee has the right to return to the job they left.

If a couple jointly adopt a child, one may take adoption leave and the other parent may be able to take paternity leave or shared parental leave. Employees should refer to the Shared Parental Leave Policy.

4.0 Paternity Leave

4.1 Paternity Leave - Birth

To be eligible for paternity leave, employees must:

have at least 26 weeks continuous service by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (qualifying week)
be the baby’s biological father or the partner / husband of the mother
have (or expects to have) the responsibility for the baby’s upbringing
give the correct notice

4.1.1 Giving Notice – Birth

Employees should notify their manager by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due. If this is not possible they must tell their manager as soon as possible.

Employees should inform their manger and include giving details of; the baby’s due date, how much leave the employee wants, when they would like their leave to start and end. Employees don’t have to give a precise date for when they want leave, they can give a general time eg ‘the day of the birth’.

Employees should give a copy of the MATB1 certificate to their manager as proof of the pregnancy. The MATB1 is something that the mother will receive from her midwife, usually at the 20 week scan.

4.1.2 Confirmation from the Manager - Birth

Managers have 28 days to respond to the employee in writing, confirming their leave start and end date. It may be useful to use the GOV.UK calculator to calculate the dates: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

The start date can be delayed if the employee doesn’t have a reasonable excuse for giving the wrong amount of notice. To delay it, Managers must write to the employee within 28 days of their leave request.

4.2 Paternity Leave – Surrogacy

To be eligible for paternity leave, employees must:

have at least 26 weeks continuous service by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (qualifying week)
be married to or the civil partner of someone adopting a child on their own, or adopting a child with their spouse or partner
be intending to apply for a parental order and will not be taking adoption leave and pay
have (or expects to have) the responsibility for the baby’s upbringing
give the correct notice

4.2.1 Giving Notice – Surrogacy

Employees should notify their manager by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due. If this is not possible they must tell their manager as soon as possible.

Employees should inform their manager and include giving details of; the baby’s due date, how much leave the employee wants, when they would like their leave to start and end. Employees don’t have to give a precise date for when they want leave, they can give a general time eg ‘the day of the birth’.

Employees should give a copy of the MATB1 certificate to their manager as proof of the pregnancy. The MATB1 is something that the mother will receive from her midwife, usually at the 20 week scan.

4.2.2 Confirmation from the Manager – Surrogacy

4.3 Paternity Leave – Adoption

To be eligible for paternity leave, employees must:

have at least 26 weeks continuous service by the date they are matched with a child (UK adoptions)
have at least 26 weeks continuous service by either the date the child arrives in the UK or when they want their pay to start (overseas adoptions)
provide proof of the adoption (eg matching certificate or letter from the adoption agency)
confirm their partner is getting Statutory Adoption Pay in writing or by giving you a copy of their partners form SC6.
be responsible for the child’s upbringing
give the correct notice

4.3.1 Giving Notice – Adoption

Employees adopting a child must give notice:

Paternity Leave – no later than 7 days of their co-adopter or partner being matched with a child
Paternity Pay – 28 days before the want their pay to start

For overseas adoptions employees must inform their manager:

The date on which the adopter was sent official notification from the UK authority within 28 days of receiving it (you must have 26 weeks continuous service by this date)
The date the child is expected to enter the UK – within 28 days of that date
When they want their Statutory Paternity Pay and/or leave to start, whether they want one or two weeks at least 28 days beforehand.

Employees should inform their manager and include giving details of; the child’s placement date, how much leave the employee wants, when they would like their leave to start and end.

Employees should give a copy of the ‘matching certificate’ to their manager as proof of the adoption.

4.3.2 Confirmation from the Manager – Adoption

Managers have 28 days to respond to the employee in writing, confirming their leave start and end date It may be useful to use the GOV.UK calculator to calculate the dates: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

4.4 Paternity Leave – general guidance

Paternity leave must be taken:

on the date of the baby’s birth / placement date, or an agreed number of days after
on the date the child arrives in the UK or an agreed number of days after this (overseas adoptions)
within 56 days of the baby’s birth date (or due date if the baby is early)
For overseas adoptions, leave must be taken within 56 days of the date of placement or the child’s arrival in the UK.
in one go, eg one week only or two consecutive weeks. Weeks cannot be split.

Labour can be unpredictable, and therefore a false start to labour does not trigger paternity leave. Partners can either use their statutory right to take unpaid time off for dependents or paid Carer’s Leave (subject to eligibility) to be with the mother during labour if they wish. Paternity leave will commence immediately after the birth.

If an employee is told before their leave that the adoption placement is not going ahead, they will not be entitled to Statutory Paternity Leave or Pay. If the child is placed and disruption occurs to the placement (eg the child is returned to the adoption agency) then employee is still entitled to Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay.

Paternity leave is counted towards continuous service. Employees are only entitled to one or two consecutive weeks paternity leave, even if they have a multiple birth (eg twins). They cannot take odd days.

There is a useful calculator on the GOV.UK website which calculates the earliest date employees can start their paternity leave, when their leave will end, the last day they should give notice to the council and what Statutory Paternity Pay they will receive: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

Employee may be able to get more leave or pay if their partner returns to work and they qualify for Shared Parental Leave and Pay. For more details, please refer to the Shared Parental Leave Policy.

4.5 Changing the start date of paternity leave

If an employee wants to change the start date of their paternity leave after they have already notified the council, they may do so but must give:

28 days’ notice before their original start date, or

28 days’ notice before the new date, whichever is earlier.

If the employee cannot do this, they must tell the council as soon as possible.

Within 28 days of receiving such notification, the manager will notify the employee of the revised date on which their paternity leave period will end.

5.0 Paternity Pay

5.1 Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

To be eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay employees must:

(Birth & Surrogacy) have at least 26 weeks continuous service by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (qualifying week) and continue to be employed up to the date the child is born
(Adoption) have at least 26 weeks continuous service by the matching date and continue to be employed up to the date the child is placed with the adopter
earn on average at least £112 a week (lower earnings limit), over the 8-week relevant period
give the correct notice using HMRC forms which can be completed online:
- SC3 for Birth
- SC4 for Surrogacy
- SC4 for Adoption in the UK
- SC5 for Adoption from overseas

These forms are available from the HM Revenues & Customs website:

SC3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ordinary-statutory-paternity-pay-and-leave-becoming-a-birth-parent-sc3

SC4 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ordinary-statutory-paternity-pay-and-leave-becoming-an-adoptive-parent-sc4

SC5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ordinary-statutory-paternity-pay-and-leave-adopting-a-child-from-abroad-sc5

Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is either the current SPP rate or 90% of their average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) per week. It starts at the same time as paternity leave and is paid for up to two weeks. It cannot be paid over and above normal salary.

Statutory Paternity Pay rates are fixed by law and are subject to tax and National Insurance deductions. Full details of the rates of Statutory Paternity Pay may be obtained from the GOV.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave

All eligible employees will receive Statutory Paternity Pay, whether they decide to return to work or not.

If an employee is not eligible, they will be informed by their manager explaining why they can’t get Statutory Paternity Pay.

5.2 Occupational Paternity Pay

To be eligible for Occupational Paternity Pay employees must:

have at least one year’s continuous service by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, or by the matching date

Where employees are eligible for Occupational Paternity Pay, they will be entitled to the first week of paternity leave at full pay. The second week will be paid at Statutory Paternity pay rate. Tax and National Insurance will be deducted.

6.0 Time off for antenatal or adoption appointments

Employees can take unpaid leave to accompany a pregnant woman to antenatal appointments if they are:

The baby’s father
The expectant mother’s spouse or civil partner
In a long term relationship with the expectant mother
The intended parent (if they are having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement)

If the employee is adopting a child, they can get time off to attend two adoption appointments after they have been matched with a child.

Employees can accompany the woman to two appointments of up to 6.5 hours each. Time off must be approved by the line manager and details recorded on the employees personnel file.

7.0 If the baby dies

In this sad event, employees still qualify for paternity leave and pay if they meet the eligibility criteria and if the baby is either:

Stillborn from 24 weeks of pregnancy
Born alive at any point in the pregnancy but later dies

8.0 Right not to be dismissed

Employees taking paternity leave have the right not to be dismissed or discriminated against for any reason connected with their paternity.

However, employees can be made redundant. In a genuine redundancy situation, and where there is no suitable alternative work available, then they can lawfully be made redundant, providing that paternity is not the reason for redundancy.

9.0 During Paternity Leave

9.1 Status of the Contract of Employment during Paternity Leave

During Paternity Leave, all terms and conditions of employment continue with the exception of remuneration. Statutory Paternity Pay is given to employees instead, providing they meet the qualifying requirements.

For example, employees continue to accrue holiday entitlement, including statutory holidays while on paternity leave.

9.2 Making contact while on Paternity Leave

The council is entitled to make reasonable contact with employees during paternity leave. They may contact employees to discuss whether or not the planned date of return to work has changed or is likely to do so, or to discuss any flexible working arrangements that would make return to work easier. Managers may also contact employees to let them know of any changes at work, or just to let them know what’s going on in the team and generally keep them up to date.

Employees are also entitled to make reasonable contact with the council to discuss a variety of things or gain clarification.

9.3 Pension contributions

Employees who are members of the local government pension scheme will pay pension contributions based on their income during paternity leave. Their pension is protected during Paternity Leave, so they won’t lose out pension-wise while they are absent from work.

9.4 Other benefits or deductions from pay

If an employee has deductions from their pay, such as Union fees, these will continue unless the employee instructs their manager to stop them. This must be done in writing or via email and needs to be received before the 5th of the month in which the deduction is to stop.

10.0 Shared Parental Leave

Employees may be able to get Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) if they’ve had a baby. It may also be available for those who have adopted a child.

Employees can start SPL if they are eligible and their partner ends their maternity leave or pay early. The remaining leave will be available as SPL. The remaining pay may be available as ShPP.

Employees can take SPL in up to three separate blocks. They can also share their leave with their partner if they are also eligible. Parents can choose how much of the SPL each of them will take.

For example, a mother and her partner are both eligible for SPL and ShPP. The mother ends her maternity leave and pay after 12 weeks, leaving 40 weeks available for SPL and 27 weeks available for ShPP. The parents can choose how to split this.

SPL and ShPP must be taken between the baby’s birth and first birthday.

For further details about SPL and ShPP and to see if you are eligible, please refer to the Shared Parental Leave Policy which is available on Minerva.

11.0 Returning to Work

Before paternity leave starts, a return to work date will have be agreed and confirmed in writing to the employee by the manager. The employee does not need to give notice if they are going to return to work on this day.

Managers should set aside time on the first day to welcome the employee back to work and update them on priorities, workloads etc and organise their 1-2-1 review meetings going forward.

If the employee decides not to return to work at the end of their Paternity Leave, they must tender their resignation giving their usual period of notice.

11.1 Sickness following Paternity Leave

If an employee is too ill to come back to work at the end of their Paternity Leave, the council’s normal sickness procedure will apply.

11.2 Parental Leave

Employees may extend their Paternity Leave by combining it with a period of unpaid parental leave, provided they are eligible.

The council will not postpone a request for a period of parental leave provided it is requested to immediately follow a birth, surrogacy or adoption placement.

11.3 Childcare vouchers

Employees can exchange part of their salary for childcare vouchers, known as salary sacrifice. The employee and the council benefit by paying less National Insurance contributions on their income.

11.4 Requesting Flexible working

Employees may want to reduce or amend their hours upon their return to work following paternity leave. Employees should follow the Flexible Working Policy and put their request in writing.

12.0 Documentation required

Managers and employees should ensure that all documentation, paperwork is forwarded to the HR committee. These documents will be added to the employees personnel file and/or processed during the next available pay run.

Any paperwork required to be processed through Payroll, must be received by the HR committee by the 5th of the month.

CWPC are required to keep records for HMRC including:

the date Statutory Paternity Pay started
the payments of Statutory Paternity Pay paid, including dates
the payments CWPC has reclaimed
any weeks that were not paid and why
if adopting, a letter from the adoption agency or a matching certificate

Records must be kept for three years from the end of the tax year they relate to.