HR Update : Your Rights From 6th April
From 6 April this year, paternity leave and ordinary parental leave will become day one rights for employees.
Paternity leave is to enable an employee to spend time with a new child and support their partner.
Currently, an employee must have been employed for 26 weeks before they are eligible to take the leave.
The employee must have or expect to have responsibility for bringing up the child.
They must be one or both of - the child's father and/or married to, the civil partner or partner of the mother or birth parent.
In cases of adoption, they should be married to, the civil partner or partner of the child's main adopter.
In both instances, this applies to same sex couples.
The employee can take one or two weeks leave, which must be taken within 52 weeks of the child’s birth, or the adoption placement.
For an employee to be eligible for statutory paternity pay, they will still need to have worked for the company for at 26 weeks.
An employee wanting to take paternity leave, will need to tell their employer by the end of the 15th week before the baby is born. From 18 February 2026 to 25 July 2026, a temporary rule allows 28 days' notice for parents newly eligible due to this law change.
Ordinary parental leave is to allow parents to spend time with their children. It is unpaid.
An employee must be responsible for the upbringing of the child and be named on one of the following:
the child's birth certificate
the child's adoption certificate
a parental order, for surrogacy
a legal guardianship
Each parent can take up to 18 weeks of parental leave for each child until each child is 18 years old. If an employee takes it, it must be in blocks of weeks and a maximum of 4 weeks a year for each child.
An employee can take parental leave in blocks of days or hours if they are entitled to one of the following for their child:
Disability Living Allowance
Personal Independence Payment
Employees must give at least 21 days’ notice if they want to take parental leave.
Sarah Darbyshire FCIPD - HR Consultant and Director
HR Solutions Yorkshire Limited
Ad hoc and retained HR Advisory Services
HR/People Strategy - Business Change - Management Development - Employee Relations
T: 01937 591577
M: 07495 857525
E: sarah@hrsolutionsyorkshire.co.uk
W: http://hrsolutionsyorkshire.co.uk
