When does maternity leave start for fathers?

[moneybaker]

Hi, my employe has been off work for a week
due to his gf giving birth to a beautiful baby girl (8 weeks early)
My question is when does maternity leave start for him? When his gf went into labour? And would that week off he has already had is be classed as the 1st week of maternity leave? Kind regards.

 

[ethical PR]

Maternity leave will start for fathers when they are able to have babies in terms of paternity leave, have a look at the government business website and read up on the section on paternity leave.

If you are employing staff it's worth familiarising yourself with this type of legislation. And normally you would agree in advance how any leave would be taken.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

You may find this helpful too.

 

[moneybaker]

Maternity leave will start for fathers when they are able to have babies

Damn they cant have babies . Another lie i was brought up to believe along with money does not grow on trees .

have a look at the government business website and read up on the section on paternity leave.

I did what you said and found this.....

(Only posting reply as it may help others)

Leave can start 20 weeks after the birth!

 

[moneybaker]

My question is now.....................

If paternity leave was not agreed between employe and employer to be taken straight after the birth and paternity leave can not start before the birth does this mean that the 6 days he has had off up to now is unpaid leave?



Kind Regards

 

[Anonymouse72]

it's 8 weeks for Paternity leave - this is some of the info on form SC3 (which you've received back from your employee within the stated timescale & it was completed correctly?)

You cannot start your ordinary paternity leave before the child is born. You can choose to take one or two whole weeks leave, but not two separate weeks, which must end by the 56th day after the date of birth. If the baby is born early you can choose to take your leave any time between the actual date of birth and the end of an eight-week period starting from the Sunday of the week the baby was originally due.
You cannot take odd days off work, but the weeks can start on any day, for example,
from Tuesday to Monday.
You must discuss your leave plans with your employer and tell them what time off you want by the 15th week before the week the baby is due. Your employer can tell you when this is, if you are not sure.
You must complete this form and give it to your employer at least 28 days before you want to start receiving OSPP.

edit: if he didn't fill in the form/let you know his plans, then it's either annual leave he's used or unpaid leave. no OSPP due either in those circumstances.

 

[StaceyPreedy]

Fathers have a right to paternity leave from the moment the baby is born but generally it starts when their partner is in labour, this is just out of general agreement rather than law, if the baby is not actually born, say false labour for example that time off is the unpaid leave. Any time before the birth is unpaid leave and anytime after must count as paternity leave.

 

[justguy]

it's 8 weeks for Paternity leave - this is some of the info on form SC3 (which you've received back from your employee within the stated timescale & it was completed correctly?)

I am not entirely sure this is correct.
https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave/overview

 

[Anonymouse72]

I am not entirely sure this is correct.
https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave/overview

gov.uk states 56 days which is 8 weeks, what are you referring to?

 

[justguy]

gov.uk states 56 days which is 8 weeks, what are you referring to?

The leave must finish within 56 days of the birth.

Ordinary paternity leave is 1 or 2 weeks and the employee needs to fulfil certain criteria before they are eligible.

You can take between 2 and 26 weeks additional paternity leave depending on when the mother returns to work.
https://www.gov.uk/employers-additional-paternity-pay-leave

Both are also subject to notification periods.

I am really confused as to what your 8 weeks can refer to other than the point I referred to earlier. I have checked our own HR manual (verified as accurate recently by a cracking HR person here ...) and it confirms what I say above.

Maternity and Paternity are far more complex than many think - it is very easy indeed to get caught out, especially if an employee is devious or well advised. In the extreme circumstance, you can be slapped with an ET after the employee returns and be fully culpable - no defence.

 

[AndrewEardley]

moneybaker stated that paternity can start up to 20 weeks after birth. Anonymouse was simply correcting him to say it is 8 weeks

Unless I am reading the thread wrong of course?!

 

[Anonymouse72]

The leave must finish within 56 days of the birth.

Ordinary paternity leave is 1 or 2 weeks and the employee needs to fulfil certain criteria before they are eligible.

ok, i'm a bit lost here as we seem to saying the same thing? as far as i know, this is just standard paternity leave, nothing mentioned about additional etc by the OP.

moneybaker stated that paternity can start up to 20 weeks after birth. Anonymouse was simply correcting him to say it is 8 weeks

Unless I am reading the thread wrong of course?!

yes, that's the only reason i quoted the 8 weeks in the first place. and you're not the only one getting a bit confused...