Paternity leave

You can take up to 2 weeks leave. You can take both weeks together or take them separately in one-week blocks. You get the same amount of leave even if you have more than one child (for example, twins).

A week of Paternity Leave is the same number of days that you normally work in a week. For example, if you only work on Mondays and Tuesdays, then a week of leave is 2 days.

Your leave cannot start before the birth. It must end within 52 weeks of the babys birth (or the due date if the baby is early). The start and end date rules are different if you adopt.

You must tell your employer the babys due date at least 15 weeks before the baby is due. And you must give your employer 28 days notice if you want to change the date your Paternity Leave starts.

You do not have to give a precise date for your leave. Instead, you can give a general time, such as the day of the birth or one week after.

Shared Parental Leave

You may also be eligible for Shared Parental Leave. You can take Paternity Leave and Shared Parental Leave in any order.

Unpaid Parental Leave

You may also be eligible for 18 weeks Unpaid Parental Leave per child, up to their 18th birthday.

You can take Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave in any order.

Leave for antenatal appointments

You can take unpaid leave to accompany a pregnant woman to 2 antenatal appointments if youre:

• the babys father
• the expectant mothers spouse or civil partner
• in a long-term relationship with the expectant mother
• the intended parent (if youre having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement)

You can take up to 6 and a half hours per appointment. Your employer can choose to give you longer.

You can apply for leave immediately if youre a permanent employee. Youll need to have been doing a job for 12 weeks before you qualify if youre an agency worker.

Leave for adoption appointments

You can take unpaid leave to attend 2 adoption appointments after youve been matched with a child.

You can take up to 6 and a half hours per appointment. Your employer can choose to give you longer.

You can apply for leave immediately if youre a permanent employee. Youll need to have been doing a job for 12 weeks before you qualify if youre an agency worker.