From 6 April 2026, eligible employees in Great Britain have a day-one right to Paternity Leave. The leave can be one or two weeks, taken together or as separate one-week blocks, and must finish within 52 weeks of the birth (or due date if the baby arrives early). Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is separate: it still has a qualifying-week service test and minimum average earnings condition.
Leave is a day-one right in Great Britain
SPP still has eligibility tests
Two notice stages apply
Great Britain and Northern Ireland are different
This guide explains the Great Britain route for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has separate paternity-leave rules; use our Northern Ireland Paternity Leave guide for the service test, employer notice and SPP process, alongside the nidirect Paternity Leave guidance. Do not apply the Great Britain day-one change to a Northern Ireland employment contract without checking the relevant NI rules.
If the baby needs neonatal care, you may have an additional leave and pay entitlement with its own eligibility and employer-notice rules. Read the Neonatal Care Leave and Pay guide before sequencing leave around paternity or Shared Parental Leave.
Eligibility: leave is not the same as pay
To qualify for Great Britain Paternity Leave, you must be an employee, meet the relevant-parent or intended-parent relationship category and give the correct notice. GOV.UK says the leave right applies from the first day of employment from 6 April 2026. The entitlement is for time off to care for the child.
SPP has additional conditions. GOV.UK currently lists employment through the date of birth, average weekly earnings of at least £129 before tax and 26 weeks of continuous service up to the qualifying week (the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth). Adoption and surrogacy use different reference dates and evidence. Someone may qualify for leave but not SPP; check the pay route separately before budgeting. The 2026/27 standard SPP rate is £194.32 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings if lower.
Leave amount, blocks and deadline
You can take up to two weeks. They may be taken consecutively or as separate one-week blocks. A multiple birth does not increase the amount. A “week” is the number of days you normally work during a week, so a part-time pattern affects how the leave days are counted.
Leave cannot start before the birth and must end within 52 weeks of the birth, or within 52 weeks of the due date if the baby is early. Adoption and surrogacy have their own start-date and notice rules; confirm the matching or placement date and forms on GOV.UK.
Notify your employer and claim SPP
For a birth, tell the employer the expected due date at least 15 weeks before the expected week of birth. Then, at least 28 days before the requested leave start, tell the employer when you want leave to start and whether you want one or two weeks. You can give a general start period such as the day of birth or the following week, subject to the official notice rules. Use the employer’s form if it has one; otherwise GOV.UK provides the statutory online notice form.
Use the Paternity Leave Timeline Planner to map the due-week notice, 28-day leave notice and 52-week finish window. It keeps GB dates separate from Northern Ireland and does not assess SPP eligibility.
SPP is claimed through the employer, not as a separate benefit application to DWP. The employer should explain eligibility and payment. If you are not eligible for SPP, GOV.UK says the employer must tell you within 28 days and give the reason using form SPP1. Keep your notice, employer decision, payslips and any form submitted.
Plan a Great Britain Paternity Leave request
- 1Confirm the job is in Great Britain and check the relevant-parent category; use nidirect for a Northern Ireland job.
- 2Separate the day-one leave right from SPP: check the 26-week service, £129 earnings and employment-through-birth conditions for pay.
- 3Give the due-date notice at least 15 weeks before the expected week and give at least 28 days’ notice of the requested start and one- or two-week duration.
- 4Confirm any adoption or surrogacy-specific dates, evidence and forms with the employer and GOV.UK.
- 5Keep written confirmation of leave dates, pay decision and payroll treatment; if SPP is refused, review the SPP1 reason and the relevant alternative support route.
Rights during leave and related schemes
Employment rights continue during Paternity Leave, including holiday accrual and a right to return to work. The employee can also take eligible time off for two antenatal appointments or, after adoption matching, two adoption appointments under separate rules. The adoption appointments guide explains the main adopter’s five paid appointments, the second adopter’s two unpaid appointments and the GB/NI source boundary.
For the separate maternity-leave rules on accrued holiday, carry-over and booking annual leave before the leave ends, see the Great Britain maternity leave holiday guide.
The Great Britain antenatal appointments guide explains who can attend, the two-appointment partner limit, unpaid status and the evidence rules. Appointment attendance is separate from taking Paternity Leave.
Paternity Leave is distinct from Shared Parental Leave, a separate process for ending maternity/adoption leave and sharing the remaining entitlement. See the Shared Parental Leave and Pay guide for its eligibility and booking rules. Ordinary Unpaid Parental Leave is a different child-based allowance available over a much longer period. Read the Great Britain Maternity Leave guide for the birth parent’s 52-week leave, and the UK Adoption Leave guide for placement notices, SAP and return rights. Read the UK Unpaid Parental Leave guide for that separate right. For payment calculations and the family-pay comparison, see the UK Maternity & Paternity Pay guide.
If the child’s mother, main adopter or main intended parent dies after the child’s birth or placement, a separate unpaid right may apply. See the Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave guide for its eligibility, one-year end window and distinct employer notice. It is not ordinary Paternity Leave and does not carry Statutory Paternity Pay.