Record No. / Issue No. / Issue Date / Prepared By / Authorised By
HRPAT001 / 1 / 31/07/15 / Kerri Bradley / Sinead Sharpe
COMPANY PATERNITY INFORMATION PACK
CONGRATULATIONS!
Firstly, congratulations on what we know will be an exciting time for you and your spouse/partner!
The aim of this pack is to guide you through the process of planning for your paternity leave. It has been laid out in a format which is intended to be easy to use. Should you have any other queries or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your Line Manager or the Company HR department – we’ll be pleased to help.
Paternity Leave
There are two different types of paternity leave which may be available to you as outlined below:
• Ordinary Paternity Leave (OPL) – Available where your partner has given birth or you have adopted a child
• Additional Paternity Leave (APL) – Available where your partner has given birth or you have adopted a child and you work in the UK
The two types of leave can be taken independently of one another e.g. you can take OPL at the time of birth and then APL once the child is 20 weeks old or you can choose only to take APL.
Ordinary Paternity Leave (OPL)
Paternity leave is available where your partner has given birth or where your adopted child has been placed and you are not taking adoption leave.
You may take up to 2 weeks leave which must be taken consecutively once your partner has given birth or your child has been placed for adoption. If you work part-time this will be pro-rata’d. Leave must be taken and end within 8 weeks of your child’s birth or adoption or when they return from hospital. With your line managers agreement you may request paid holidays in order to take additional time off (subject to eligibility and agreement).
To qualify for Paternity Leave, you should advise your line manager of your intention to take paternity leave no later than the end of the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC), or as soon as reasonably practicable. To notify your line manager, you should complete the relevant HMRC form to ensure that you receive Ordinary Statutory paternity pay, if eligible - for this reason, any requested supporting documentation should be provided to payroll on request as soon as possible.
Shared Parental Leave
Shared parental leave applies in relation to babies due on or after 5 April 2015. Similar arrangements apply for adoptive parents, in relation to children placed for adoption on or after 5 April 2015, or who enter Great Britain on or after that date if adopted from overseas.
A mother who meets the eligibility requirements will be able to bring her maternity leave to an end and choose to take shared parental leave with her partner, who must also meet the relevant eligibility requirements. Up to 50 weeks' shared parental leave can be shared between the parents. The amount of shared parental leave that the parents can take between them is 52 weeks, minus the amount of maternity leave taken by the mother. The compulsory maternity leave period is reserved for the mother, therefore the mother cannot curtail her maternity leave until two weeks (or four weeks for factory workers) after the birth. However, the mother's partner can begin a period of shared parental leave at any time from the date of the child's birth. All leave must be taken within the first 52 weeks following the birth.
The leave does not have to be taken in one continuous block; employees can return to work and then take a further period of shared parental leave. If an employee gives his or her employer written notice requesting discontinuous blocks of leave, the employer has the option to refuse this request, in which case the employee must take the leave requested in one block, withdraw the request or agree alternative dates with the employer. However, an employee can submit up to three separate notices requesting periods of leave, which could have the effect of enabling the employee to take three separate blocks of leave without the employer being able to refuse this.
An employee must give his or her employer at least eight weeks' notice to take a period of shared parental leave.
There are a number of different notices that employees must give before they can take shared parental leave.
Before either parent can take shared parental leave, the mother must give her employer a leave curtailment notice, setting out the date on which she intends to bring her maternity leave to an end. This must be given no less than eight weeks before the start of the first period of shared parental leave taken by either of the parents.
At the same time as the mother gives the leave curtailment notice she must give her employer:
- a notice of entitlement and intention to take shared parental leave, providing the employer with information including how much shared parental leave the parents each intend to take and an indication as to when the mother intends to take leave (which is non-binding); or
- a declaration stating that her partner has given his or her employer a notice of entitlement and intention to take shared parental leave and that she consents to her partner taking that amount of leave.
The employee, whether the mother or her partner, must give his or her employer a notice of entitlement and intention to take shared parental leave not less than eight weeks before the start of his or her first period of shared parental leave.
In addition, no less than eight weeks before each period of shared parental leave, the employee taking the leave must give his or her employer a period of leave notice, setting out the start and end dates of the period or periods of leave requested.
There are similar notice requirements for employees taking shared parental leave when adopting a child.
Version 1 Reviewed August 2015 FIRST STEPS