In April there will be two changes to maternity and paternity leave provisions.
Fathers of children with an expected week of birth beginning on or after 3 April 2011 will be allowed up to 26 weeks' additional paternity leave if the mother returns to work before using her full entitlement to statutory maternity leave.
On the same date, the rates for statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay will increase from £124.88 to £128.73 per week.
The additional paternity leave legislation came into force on 6 April 2010, but the right to additional paternity leave applies only to fathers and partners of mothers of children with an expected week of birth beginning on or after 3 April 2011 (or in an adoption situation, where the notification of the match with a child is on or after 3 April 2011, or where the child enters Great Britain on or after 3 April 2011, in relation to an adoption from overseas).
In a birth situation, an employee will qualify for additional paternity leave if he or she is the child’s father, or is married to, or is the partner of, or is the civil partner of, the child’s mother. (note that "Paternity" can now be considered from the point of view of a female partner as well as a male and is not restricted to a male father)The employee must also have at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment with the employer, ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, and remain in continuous employment with the employer until the week before the first week of the additional paternity leave. The employee must have, or expect to have, the main responsibility (apart from the child’s mother) for the child's upbringing.
In an adoption situation, an employee who is one of a couple adopting a child will qualify for additional paternity leave if he or she has at least 26 weeks' continuous employment with the employer, ending with the week in which he or she is notified of the adoptive match (or for an adoption from overseas, 26 weeks' continuous employment ending with the week in which official notification was sent from the relevant domestic authority, or commencing with the week in which his or her employment with the employer began), and remains in continuous employment with the employer until the week before the first week of the additional paternity leave. To be entitled to additional paternity leave, the employee must have been jointly matched for adoption as part of a couple. Additional paternity leave is not available to the spouse, civil partner or partner of the adopter if the couple are not jointly adopting the child.
If the child’s mother, or the main adopter in an adoption situation, ends his or her period of maternity or adoption leave before using the maximum entitlement to 39 weeks’ statutory maternity pay, statutory maternity allowance or statutory adoption pay, the employee taking additional paternity leave is entitled to be paid for the remainder of the 39-week period, assuming that he or she has average earnings of at least the lower earnings limit for national insurance purposes. In effect, the couple are paid for 39 weeks between them. Additional paternity leave pay is paid at the statutory maternity pay rate, or 90% of the employee’s earnings, if this is less than the statutory rate.